.f).ljji>i.jV,,fJi'%'.V,. 





Glass j3 ^ L^ 
BQok.l J 3 fe vS! 



AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 




CuuiMnc ^uIucJmj^ 



AN ENGLISH WIFE 
IN BERLIN 

A PRIVATE MEMOIR OF EVENTS, POLITICS, AND 
DAILY LIFE IN GERMANY THROUGHOUT THE 
WAR AND THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION OF 1918 



BY 

EVELYN, PRINCESS BLtlCHER 



NEW YORK 

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 

68 1 FIFTH AVENUE 






x'iltLQ 



2)eC>icatet> 

TO 

MY MOTHER 



INTRODUCTION 

Evelyn, Princess Bliicher, the writer of these memoirs, 
is a daughter of the late Mr. Frederick A. Stapleton- 
Bretherton, of Rainhill Hall, Lancashire. Her mother 
was a daughter of the twelfth Lord Petre. She was 
married in 1907 to Prince (then Count) Bliicher, great- 
great-grandson of the famous Marshal " Vorwarts," who 
turned the tide of Waterloo in favour of the sorely harassed 
British army. The old Prince, his father, whom he suc- 
ceeded in the title and estates in July 1916 {vide page 144), 
had quarrelled for many years with the Prussian and 
Austrian Governments, and hved in retirement on the 
island of Herm, which he leased from Great Britain, and 
where he was famous for rearing kangaroos. Shortly 
after the outbreak of war the French Government raised 
a complaint against his domicile so near their coast, 
and after considerable pressure the British felt boimd to 
summon him to leave the island and come to London. 
Further unpleasantness here during the alien scare led to 
his deportation and return to the ancestral estate of 
Krieblowitz, in Silesia, which was presented to the old 
Marshal by the nation in recognition of his services, just 
as Strathfieldsaye and Apsley House were to the Duke of 
Wellington. Here he died from the effects of a fall from 
his horse on July 12, 1916, after many years' estrange- 
ment from his two elder sons. 



vili AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Count and Countess Bliicher, apart from the latter's 
large influential family circle, were well known in English 
society, and lived in this country continuously up to the 
outbreak of war, when the Count's nationaUty forced them 
to go to Germany and join the not inconsiderable colony 
of " internationals " who made their home at the Esplan- 
ade Hotel in BerUn. Here, in spite of the supervision 
which existed, they Uved in a state of freedom which 
compared favourably with the treatment of aliens here. 
They met everybody of note ; and were in a position to 
see and hear everything that went on in the mihtary and 
pohtical world. From the very day of their dramatic de- 
parture with the German Embassy from London, down 
to the end of the 19 18 revolution, Princess Bliicher made 
a point of jotting down in the form of a private journal, 
intended for her mother, all the varied events and ex- 
periences which passed before her eyes during these 
critical years, and very few things of any importance 
seem to have escaped her acute and penetrating observa- 
tion. As a detailed record of the war from the German 
side, seen through Enghsh or neutral eyes, these jottings 
constitute the most interesting document which we are 
hkely ever to possess on the subject ; the personal 
memoirs by generals or statesmen which have appeared 
so far being more concerned with the defence of their 
own conduct than with the accurate representation of 
events. Facts new to Enghsh readers, or at any rate 
not generally known, and unexpected side-hghts on 
the characters of many pubhc men (to say nothing of 
the much-abused German nation) come out in these 
shrewd and absolutely honest records, written without 
any ulterior view of publication, and yet with a hterary 
grace and fluency which many historians might envy. 
In parts, both the nature of the subject and the style 



INTRODUCTION ix 

remind one irresistibly of Pepys, as he fluttered about 
collecting news and opinions from every one of note, and 
jotted them down with his own crisp comments. We see 
here, for the first time nakedly revealed, the longing for 
peace and readiness to make great sacrifices which per- 
meated all classes in Germany from the highest civilian 
circles of the Government downwards, months before the 
world outside was aware of or behaved in it. We see 
the bitterness of the struggle between the mihtary and 
civil elements over the submarine question ; the ambigu- 
ous position of the Kaiser between the two parties, and 
his futile efforts to exert a restraining influence over the 
Frankenstein monster he had created ; the true feehng 
of the people towards the war and the Government ; the 
growing causes of the social revolution ; and last but 
not least, the extent of the organisation which existed 
for reheving the hardships of the prisoners of war, and 
the time and trouble given to this end by many even of 
the most influential and powerful men in Germany. 

The care of British prisoners and wounded was the 
special task to which Princess Bliicher, in conjunction 
with two other ladies in a similar position, Princess Pless 
and Princess Miinster, devoted herself from the very first 
days of her exile. It would require, as she says, a 
separate volume to record all the efforts and correspond- 
ence of these three EngUsh women, hampered as they 
were by restrictions and prejudice, in their endeavour to 
trace the whereabouts of wounded and missing soldiers, 
to send comforts and necessaries to those who lacked 
them, to uproot the barbarities existing in certain camps, 
and in many other ways to bring hope and solace to 
those other Enghsh women at home whose sorrows lay 
heavy on their hearts. A little only, but enough, has 
been pubhshed of these memoirs to show the method on 



X AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

which they worked and the wide range of their activities. 
Tales of individual brutality which came to their notice 
and were reported to Headquarters for inquiry, as well 
as letters from escaped or exchanged prisoners, have 
mostly been omitted in view of the abundant evidence 
on the subject which already exists in this country. 

Of the Kaiser's personal responsibility for the war and 
its conduct the view taken in the memoir is probably a 
reasonable one, especially when it is remembered that 
the Kautsky revelations were unknown at the time and 
were only dimly surmised. His direct influence on events 
appears to have been much smaller than his bravado. 

A very interesting detail to which attention may be 
called is the full and curious information about Sir 
Roger Casement's mission to Germany and its tragic 
ending. Casement, in his better days, when he was a 
popular member of the British consular service, and before 
his mind had become unhinged by the Putumayo atroci- 
ties, was an old friend of the Bliichers, and the account 
of his terrified interview with the Princess in Berlin, just 
before his fatal journey to Ireland, is of great if mournful 
interest. It need hardly be said that the Bliichers, what- 
ever pity they may have felt for the wretched man, lent 
no assistance to his mission, but did their utmost to 
discountenance and thwart it. 

The moderate tone of these memoirs, neither violently 
pro-English nor markedly anti-German, should do some- 
thing towards a restoration of good feehng between the 
two nations after peace has cleared the air. The writer's 
difficult position, between natural love for her own people 
and loyalty to her husband's country, in which she was 
forced to live, had at least this advantage, that it enabled 
her to see both sides of the question, and to view with more 
impartiahty incidents which to partisan eyes appeared 



INTRODUCTION xi 

all black or all white. On both fronts she had friends 
and relations. Of her own family, four brothers were 
fighting on our side. One of them fell at Ypres in 
November 1914, another is lamed for life. Of her four 
brothers-in-law, Admiral Sir Edward Charlton was Com- 
mander-in-Chief at the Cape and Admiral of the mine- 
sweepers ; Colonel Rowland Feilding had command of a 
battalion of Connaught Rangers, and was through much 
of the hardest fighting ; Commander Throckmorton was 
a mine-sweeping patrolling assistant (K.H.M.) at Rosyth 
and Scapa Flow ; and Commander Kenneth Dewer was 
on active service in H.M.S. Prince of Wales, as well as at 
the Admiralty. Her unmarried sister, Monica, nursed for 
three years at a London hospital, and with another sister, 
Mrs. Feilding, was mainly responsible for the vast amount 
of correspondence on this side relating to missing and 
wounded prisoners. Unlike most of the German nobihty, 
her husband. Prince Bliicher, owing to his long residence 
in England, held no military commission, but devoted 
himself with great zeal to Red Cross work in his honorary 
capacity of a Knight of Malta. His Foreign Office con- 
nections in both countries enabled him on more than one 
occasion to be of service in reducing or mitigating the 
friction arising out of incidents connected with the war. 

H. C. M. 



AN ENGLISH WIFE IN 
BERLIN 

August 1914. — Shall I ever forget those last three days 
in England ? We were in the country staying with my 
family, and had to hurry back to London at the first 
rumours of war. My husband went straight to the 
Embassies, and negotiations were at that moment going 
on between the Ambassadors and Sir Edward Grey. All 
had great hopes of an arrangement. 

Then Sir Edward Grey appealed to the House, and 
for twenty-four hours nothing definite came out, whilst 
the crowds outside and the " man in the street " were 
growing more and more impatient. The Press, issuing 
" Specials " every hour, was helping to work up popular 
feehng ; and then suddenly the dreadful news came. 

We had been told that immediately war was declared 
the Ambassador and party would leave at once, and that 
we must be in readiness. The Banks were closed for four 
days in succession to prevent a panic, which made every- 
thing more difficult for us. Late on Tuesday afternoon, 
the 4th of August, we got notice to be ready to leave 
quite early on Thursday morning. I was so stunned by 
the suddenness of it all, that I cannot recall clearly what 
took place after that, but I remember how my family 
came up at once to be with me to the last, Rowland and 
Edith Feilding arranging everything for us, packing up 
our house, dispersing the household, in fact doing every- 
thing to save us trouble, they themselves being just as 
worried by what it meant in the future to them ; and 

B 



2 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

then my brother Vincent, my sister Freda and her husband 
and my sister-in-law Bertha, all came to bid us farewell. 
Luckily when I had parted from my parents three days 
before, none of us realized the seriousness of the situation. 

All the time friends kept coming in to say good-bye, 
and tried to cheer us, one way or another. One friend, 
wishing to warn us, frightened me terribly ; he said : 
" Mind that your passports are absolutely in order, as 
some people returning to England were held up, and the 
men of the party were taken out and shot before the 
women's eyes." The thought of the risks we might be 
going to face made me ill with terror, as although we were 
going with the Embassy, we were not members of it, 
and they could not promise to take entire responsibility ; 
and I knew that our passports were not in order. 

I could not bear the thought that my husband should 
be in such danger for a single moment. I went straight 
to the Foreign Office and saw Sir William Tyrrell, whom 
I knew very well, and told him my fears. He was not 
very reassuring. He laughed it off, however, and said : 
" The Dutch frontier is said to have been invaded by 
the Germans, and one cannot answer for the safety of 
any German travelhng through Holland in consequence." 
He told me they were at that moment cabling through 
to The Hague to ascertain whether it would be safe or not. 

That evening a telephone message came to say : "Be 
prepared to leave at 7,30 to-morrow morning," and so it 
had to be done. Our passports were not put in order 
properly until we were absolutely on the voyage en route 
for the Hook. 

The last evening passed quickly. My brothers and sisters 
came in, and my brother Vincent had been to the Foreign 
Office to inquire about the safety of our voyage. He 
brought back the most consohng news I had had that day, 
having heard it said that the English vessel conveying 
the German Ambassador would be the safest spot in Europe 
throughout the following day. This ship, however, was 
not to prove so entirely safe as one was led to suppose. 



FLIGHT FROM LONDON, AUG. 1914 3 

We rose at four o'clock in the morning, and at six 
o'clock we left the house. Baron Kiihlmann, who lived 
close by, sending for our luggage and servants to go with 
his. I could not help being amused when I remembered 
the disappointment of little Pat, the page-boy, at my 
husband not departing in full-dress uniform, the only 
proper way of making an exit according to him. " I 
know he has a German uniform, for I unpacked it myself on 
July ist," he insisted to the maid. I am afraid, however, 
that his wishes were impracticable anyhow, as my husband, 
not having served in the German army, possessed no 
military uniform. 

My sister-in-law accompanied us to the station. Whilst 
driving to Liverpool Street, even at that early hour, we 
saw placards and papers everywhere announcing German 
disasters and 3500 Germans killed. The scene at the 
station I shall never forget, with 250 Germans and their 
luggage congregated on the platform, and the special 
train in readiness. The Austrian Ambassador and many 
of the Embassy members came to see us off, and we all 
had our various friends with us. 

The Ambassador and Ambassadress (Prince and 
Princess Lichnowsky) arrived at the last minute and got 
straight into the train, the Ambassadress quite heart- 
broken, and making no attempt to hide her grief. The 
train steamed out of the station amidst a hushed silence, 
people on the platform weeping, and the men with hats 
off standing solemnly silent. It was as if a dead monarch 
was being borne away . 

The journey from London to Harwich was uneventful, 
but our arrival there was even more impressive than the 
scene at the London station. Soldiers and sailors were 
drawn up at attention, and the Admiral came to meet the 
train and escorted us to the boat through the hues of men 
all saluting as we passed. And we met with such civihty 
from the Admiral and every one that it was difficult to 
reahze we were going out of this country to become its 
bitterest enemy. 



4 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

I could not face the departure of the ship, and went 
down to hide myself in the cabin. I could not look 
upon the shores of my beautiful England fading from 
sight, not knowing when I should see it again, nor what 
would happen, or who would be missing from there, 
before I returned. The Ambassador and Ambassadress 
stood on deck, receiving salutes, until there was no more 
to be seen, and then all went down to luncheon. 

It was a beautiful day, with the sea hke glass, and 
under other circumstances we should have enjoyed the 
voyage. We had one adventure which might have led 
to disastrous results. About four or five miles away 
from the mouth of the Thames we sighted a flotilla of 
British torpedo boats. From the distance it was one 
of the most impressive and threatening sights I have 
ever seen. " How vicious it looks ! " said the Ambassador, 
and that just describes it. 

And now for our adventure. Three shots were fired 
at us, one coming within thirty yards of our bow. Most 
of us did not reahze what was going on until after- 
wards, or we should have been terrified. But we heard 
a whizzing in the air, and ran to the side to see what 
had happened, and then the boat was stopped. The 
Captain explained afterwards that the whole thing was 
due to carelessness. The Foreign Office had wired that 
morning to the Enghsh Fleet to say that a vessel 
would be conve3dng the Ambassador to the Hook, and 
that it would fly the German flag on the main-mast 
and the Union Jack at the stern. The Union Jack, it 
was said, was too small, and had not been seen by the 
flotilla, and so they stopped us. Speaking to us about 
it afterwards, the Captain said : "I soon hauled 
down the German flag. Another little mistake like 
that could send all on board to Kingdom Come." He 
then proceeded to tell us of the sinking of a German 
mine-layer on that very spot the night before, hence 
the caution of the British flotilla. 

We made great friends with the Captain, and when 



FLIGHT FROM LONDON, AUG. 1914 5 

he found that I was EngUsh, and a sister-in-law to one 
of the Admirals whom he knew well, he became most 
friendly and sat in our cabin for a long time, giving us 
his views on the war, etc. He also promised to take some 
letters back to England for me, and to send a wireless 
message to my family to say we had arrived safely as 
far as the Hook. 

We reached the Hook about 5 o'clock, and found a 
special train waiting for us, which conveyed us eventually 
straight to Berhn without a single change, which was one 
of the greatest distinctions and luxuries that we could 
possibly have had. For I heard from our friends after- 
wards of the discomforts of their journeys. The very 
highest in the land were subject to delays and irregularities 
when not attached to the Embassy. Some of them, it 
seemed, were turned out every hour to make place for 
troops, and had to show their passports, sometimes ten 
or twenty times a day, and were crowded into third-class 
carriages without any regard for their first-class tickets 
and their passports. All had to give way to the troops 
which were hastening to the front. 

An officer of our party was to have been married 
that day to an English girl, who is going to wait for 
him, he says. 

We had many interesting conversations during the 
journey. The sadness and bitterness of all these Germans 
leaving England struck me intensely. Here we are, 
they say, being dragged away from the country that has 
been our home for years, to fight against our best friends. 
They all blamed the ofiicials in Berlin, who had, they 
said, grossly mismanaged the negotiations. It had been 
an obsession in some of the German officials' minds for 
years past, that Russia meant to attack them. " Well 
then," said someone of the party, " why not wait until 
they do it ? Why commit suicide to avoid being killed ? " 

" What chance have we," said someone else, " attacked 
practically on every side ? " 

" Is no one friendly to Germany ? " asked another. 



6 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

" Siam is friendly, I am told," was the bitter reply. 

As we crossed the frontier, the people began to 
recognize our train, and we got quite a reception from 
the village girls along the route. They came and 
stood outside our windows and sang national war songs 
and patriotic hymns, and at one or two stations they 
presented a bouquet to the Ambassadress. 

Passing us in an almost continuous stream on the 
other way were the trains full of troops, shouting, laugh- 
ing, singing, and waving their hands, intense joy and 
excitement depicted on their faces. The Germans are 
indeed a warhke race. I have, at last, seen them stirred 
out of their morose dulness, and what I used to think 
their everlasting heaviness. The thing that impressed 
us most was the absolute order and expeditiousness of 
everything and everybody en route, especially as soon as 
we had crossed the border. 

Our train journey was slow, but absolutely comfort- 
able, and we reached Berlin safely on the evening of the 
8th. It was impossible not to be impressed with the 
immense enthusiasm prevailing all along the line. No 
less than 66 troop trains had passed the day before, yet 
there was no disorder, we were not kept waiting longer 
than half an hour at one station, and refreshments were 
handed out to soldiers and civilians everywhere gratis. 

Berlin, August 9, 19 14. — Dazed and stimned as I am 
by the awful events of the last week, I will try and keep 
some diary of our experiences, jotting them down more 
or less consecutively as they happen. The thunderstorm 
which has broken so suddenly over England and Europe 
has altered the whole tenour of our lives, and whirled 
us away into an exile which I hope will be but a short 
one. Everything has come so unexpectedly that I wake 
up in the morning saying to myself that it was only a bad 
dream ; but the hard reality soon forces itself on my 
outer view again, and I have to grapple with the situation 
as well as I can. 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 7 

Sitting in my pretty shaded room in the Esplanade 
Hotel, right in the middle of Berhn, I can see the Es- 
planade terrace looking gay and festive with summer 
guests in the hotel garden, flanked by beautiful old trees 
in the background, and although I cannot hear the words 
I know what every one down below is speaking of. 
Across my brain floats a confused vision of swiftly 
moving scenes, hke an imperfect cinema film ; white 
cliffs and blue waters, anxious -eyed travellers, yellow 
cornfields and groups of sunburnt peasants, women 
pausing in their work and staring with hand-shaded 
eyes, as again and again we were forced to stop to let 
the never-ending procession of troop-filled trains hurry 
by on their way to the West ; shouts of enthusiasm, 
fluttering of handkerchiefs, bursts of song, flushed eager 
faces of soldiers, field-grey uniforms, white-robed girls 
and women with the Red Cross on their arms, offering 
food and drink to the thirsty men. And all this, which 
might seem to be some great national festival, means 
but the entry of death and foul disaster. 

There is a great coming and going in the hotel. 
Already I have met several acquaintances all breathless 
and feverish to hear the latest bit of intelligence from 
the War Ofiice. 

Amongst the faces I saw were those of Prince and 
Princess Victor Wied, old acquaintances. He is lame, and 
is therefore only doing night-watch at the Castle ; his 
wife is a pretty woman of 23. They are full of anxiety 
as to his brother's fate, the King of Albania, who has 
been deserted by all foreign Powers, and must be absol- 
utely stranded. People here don't seem to have much 
pity for him ; they look upon him as an adventurer forced 
into the role of a would-be king by his wife's ambition. 

On my arrival last night I was so worn-out that I 
went straight to bed ; but my husband, who went at 
once to see his cousins. Count and Countess F. Larisch, 
and dehver some documents, had long talks with them 
as well as with Prince Miinster. He came back with 



8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

papers and a whole bunch of news. The Germans have 
aheady forced events, and advanced so quickly that one 
can hardly grasp the facts as one hears them. I almost 
felt a physical blow when I heard of the fall of Li^ge. 
The German point of view is that if they don't get their 
troops into Belgium, the English and French armies will 
be there before them, so that it is a toss-up who is 
first. People are contemplating the first encounters on 
the French borders with horror. The modem untried 
weapons of war, they say, exceed the conjectures of 
the most sanguinary imagination. Two hundred aero- 
planes have been dispatched from here yesterday. I 
hear a whole Russian brigade has been already captured 
by the Germans, and seventy deserters came over to 
the German lines, complaining bitterly of the hardships 
and ill-treatment they had to endure during the mobiliza- 
tion. I wonder if it is true that Paris is in a wild state 
of panic and demoralization ? I try to grasp what all 
this means, my chief feehng being one of intense sorrow 
and pain that England has entered the Usts and against 
Germany. I dare not think of all the complications which 
may arise in this case for me, my nearest and dearest 
there fighting face to face with friends and relations here. 

Horrible particulars keep coming in of the taking of 
Li6ge. The Germans had reverses at first, it seems. 
The losses on both sides are enormous. Four thousand 
Belgians have been taken prisoner, and a quarter of the 
Belgian army, they say, has been annihilated. The 
Germans have lost 1500 dead or wounded, and already 
officers known to us have fallen. General Biilow was 
shot by mistake by his own sentry. Young Count 
Arnim-Boitzenburg has been killed in a patrol. 

Countess Larisch spent the whole morning with us. 
Our conversation was very sad, but it was good to have 
an old friend to talk to. The excitement and enthusiasm 
all over the city are enormous. The Kaiser is the most 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 9 

adored man of the moment, and during a great speech 
he delivered the other day on the balcony of the castle, 
in spite of the people standing densely thronged together, 
the silence was so great that one might have heard a 
pin fall. Certainly the whole nation are backing him 
this time, and if he has been criticized for his actions 
in the past, this war-cry is making him the most popular 
man in Germany. His six sons have already left for the 
front. Prince Eitel-Fritz is to command the first Life- 
Guards, whose privilege it is always to be first at the 
front and to lead the whole Army. It means certain 
death, they say, and yet he went off smiling, and gave a 
dinner the night before, when he and his guests were in 
the most boisterous spirits. 

Countess Larisch's two younger brothers are leaving 
for the French front to-night. Countess Henckel's 
husband has already gone, and a lady has just been in 
to see me who came straight from parting from her 
only son, a boy of 21. She described how heartrending 
were his excitement and dehght at going off with the 
rest, and how she could hardly hide her grief when 
beaming with pride he showed her the little metal disc 
with his name on it, which every soldier wears for 
identification in case of being killed. ^ Seeing all this 
anxiety around me, I felt my own fears to be selfish, and 
ask myself, how could I bear the separation from hus- 
band and sons in the same proud spirit of heroism ? In 
fact this seemingly unfeehng heroism often puzzles me. 
There is hardly any thought of life and love and relations 
in the young men going away, but a sort of reckless joy 
in the certainty of the near death awaiting them. 

At dinner I sat between Prince Wied and Major Lang- 
horne, the MiUtary Attache to the American Embassy. 
The latter advised me to wear an American badge in the 
street, and not talk Enghsh there. Notices forbidding 
the language are being posted up. From him I learnt 

^ This boy was killed within a month. 



lo AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

of the extraordinary spy-fever prevailing here as every- 
where. People are being arrested all over the country, 
and the most harmless individuals are accused of being 
spies if they look the least different from their neigh- 
bours. Continual mistakes are being made, which often 
lead to fatal results for the victims. 

The English Embassy were treated very badly, and I 
was told that an Enghshman had been lynched by the 
crowd for having called out " Down with Germany." 
The hotel proprietor, however, assured me that Berhn 
is safer than it ever was before, as all the Russian spies 
had been seized and taken away to the country to be 
shot. What a carnage, if it were true ! He says numbers 
of them disguised as German officers go about carrying 
bombs. Personally I disbeheve such stories. 

I have heard that poor young Count Arnim was one 
of the first to fall at an outpost skirmish at Liege ; he 
was only 21, an eldest son, who would have succeeded 
to enormous wealth and estates. 

One of the chief things that strike me so far is the 
bitter resentment which the whole nation seems to feel 
at England's entering the war. It is a feeling that 
increases hourly. I cannot understand this absolute 
revulsion, when I think of the almost exaggerated expres- 
sions of admiration and affection which were so widely 
spread formerly. It seems to have changed in a night, 
and although a few individuals try to be moderate, they 
cannot ; and to be " English " is synonymous with 
" blackguard " in the eyes of most people. There stiU 
seems to be a flickering spark of hope in some of the 
papers here that England may be only pretending to 
come in. They emphasize the wish of the Enghsh nation 
to remain neutral, and maintain that it was a few minis- 
ters who have done all the mischief, and that the English 
Socialists could still prevent further intervention, if they 
really wanted to, even at the stage things have already 
reached. 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 11 

Exactly what was the real cause of the war no one 
seems to know, although it is discussed night and day. 
One thing grows clearer to me every day : neither the 
people here nor there wished for war, but here they are 
now being carried off their legs with patriotism, at seeing 
so many enemies on every side. It is said in England 
that Germany provoked the war, and here they emphatic- 
ally deny it. To me it seems that Europe was thirsting 
for war, and that the armies and navies were no longer 
to be restrained. Certainly here, the mihtarists grew 
weary of the long lazy peace as they called it, and if the 
Kaiser had not proclaimed war, he would have been in 
a precarious position. There are two men at the head 
of affairs : one is called stupid and the other dangerous. 
The dangerous one has won the day, and brought the 
war to a head. Lord Northcliffe seems to be responsible 
on the other side. 

I have just been reading the story of the German 
mine-layer. It is not one to be proud of, it seems to me. 
The mines were laid absolutely in the roadstead outside 
the Thames. This is not considered fair play, and will 
cause much bitterness on the other side. It has already 
sunk the Enghsh destroyer Amphion, and God only knows 
how many mines she was able to lay before she was sunk 
herself. 

Sunday, August 9, 1914. — To-day we went to Mass at 
II o'clock in the Hedwig Kirche, which is a fashionable 
meeting-place for smart Berhn, where it is accustomed 
to congregate on the steps every Sunday to gossip over 
the news. I could not help comparing it with my last 
remembrances in February just six months ago. Then 
every one had a laugh or joke on his lips. We were 
all dressed in our best, discussing the last Court Ball, or 
the latest scandal, criticizing and abusing our neighbours, 
and bent on enjoying hfe to the full. Now the women 
were sad and quiet, with none of the vivacious sparkle of 



12 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

other days ; they only welcomed us with a pressure of 
the hand, tears often pouring down their faces. There 
were the Hohenlohes, the Reischachs, the Ratibors, the 
Sierstorpffs ; and poor little Princess Ratibor, who, the 
last time we met her, was the leading spirit in a gay 
romping set at a large shooting party, had all one side of 
her face plastered up, having been shot by mistake by 
their own Polish peasants when motoring to the station. 
Their car had been suspected of being one of the many 
hostile automobiles which are said to be driving all over 
Germany filled with gold and spies. Another of the 
dangerous myths current amongst the people. 

This afternoon Count Oppersdorff came in to see 
Gebhard and talk things over. He was pretty optimistic, 
and thinks that things cannot last ten weeks. After- 
wards Gebhard went to see Baron Jagow, whom he 
found terribly harassed and anxious, and was able to 
enlighten him, and through him many others, as to the 
difficult position England had been in. Prince Miinster 
then came, and together they went over the situation 
thoroughly, and were both agreed that it is almost im- 
possible to make the officials and military authorities 
here regard the situation from an impartial point of 
view, or realize that England could not " with honour " 
leave France in the lurch. People here maintain the 
contrary. " England could have remained neutral. Her 
guarantees to France were of a strictly defensive char- 
acter, and the French action was clearly offensive, as 
they commenced bombing at the frontiers even while 
negotiations were in progress, whilst Russia hurried on 
mobiUzation before they had been finished." In any 
case they maintain that England could have assumed an 
armed neutrality, ready to intervene should there be any 
danger of France being crushed. 

I have to keep my opinions to myself, but I long to 
say to them that perhaps England did not come in until 
Belgium's neutrality had been violated. 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 13 

If one hears what the Austrians and Bohemians have 
to say, one might think that the German Government 
was throwing dust in the world's eyes. They maintain 
that Austria was inchned to word the ultimatum to 
Serbia leniently, not for the sake of Serbia, but because 
they were wide awake enough to see that the grievance 
must be localized, if Europe was to be saved an appalhng 
war ; but the German Government (if not the Emperor 
himself) worded it in such a way that there was no loop- 
hole for escape. On the inevitable becoming known, 
people here got into a panic, and they felt they must 
make terms with England at any price ; so the " feelers," 
the bribes, were put into play, and Baron Kiihlmann's pro- 
posal to England took place, that if England kept out of 
the war Germany would promise to leave the French 
coast alone. Could England choose any other course 
than the one she pursued ? Good, they say ; but could 
we do otherwise than stand by Austria, when Russia 
insisted on mobilization ? 

Several Enghsh people came in to tea, and one lady 
gave an account of how she had just seen a spy caught 
in the street. He had been dressed as a woman, and had 
been hooted by the mob to the police-station, had made 
one last desperate struggle to escape, and was shot. I 
cannot help wondering myself if all these " spies " that 
are being persecuted in the streets are not often the most 
innocent people in the world. All the inherent qualities 
of cruelty and ferocity seem to be aroused in mankind 
simply by the word war. 

Gebhard has had another long and interesting talk 
with Prince Miinster and Prince Pless. The latter is 
going to headquarters with the Kaiser, near the seat of 
war, but no one at present seems to know where that is. 
Prince P. has promised to try and influence the Kaiser 
and make him comprehend the English side of the ques- 
tion in keeping their word to the French. The Kaiser 



14 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

cannot recognize the necessity of it ; his shock and 
surprise were genuine when he reahzed what England 
was doing ; he had not thought it possible. To his friends 
standing near him he said : " To think that Nicholas and 
Georgie should have played me false ! If my grandmother 
had been alive, she would never have allowed it." 

Popular hatred here is centred on the shade of King 
Edward VII. ; he is supposed to have been the moving 
spirit in forming the encirclement of Germany. 

The more I hear things discussed from the German 
standpoint, the more astonished I am at the fighting 
character of the Germans. They take to war as a duck 
takes to water, to judge at least by the eager faces of 
the people in the streets and their talk. One would 
almost think that this terrible outbreak was a long-hoped- 
for chance of showing their inherent quahties of bravery 
and manliness, coupled with a military genius which is 
unequalled among other nations. No one seems to be 
enthusiastic about the war in England, to judge by the 
papers. The English are a peaceful, unsoldierly merchant- 
folk, and money is the standpoint of the average man ; 
and the possibihty of the Bank Act being suspended 
prevents any false glamour of war dazzling his sense of 
law and order. He does not care about the German, but 
neither does he hate him ; and as his country is not 
in immediate danger, he will not catch fire so easily. 
Germany, on the other hand, is persuaded that if she 
refuses to fight, hordes of French and Russians will 
be overrunning the land in a few weeks, if not days. 

The marvellous mihtary organization is, I must confess, 
overpowering ; everything goes off without a hitch. 
Within a few days 70 Army Corps were in the field, 
every train full of troops starting and arriving to the 
minute. This means, with trebled corps of war-time, 
some 5,600,000 men already at the frontier. One thing 
that strikes me in the new German masculine being is 
the improvement in his looks since the field-grey uniform 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 15 

has been introduced. The German as a rule has no style ; 
he usually looks as if he had a bad tailor ; but put him 
in uniform and he looks smart at once. 

We lunched with Count Ballestrem at the Kaiserhof. 
He is one of the Knights of Malta, and is arranging for 
Gebhard to get some work in connection with the Red 
Cross League. He has promised to cash our cheques, 
which is a great rehef, as no man of business here will 
accept an English one. 

Blue skies and a burning sun, and involuntarily one 
thinks of the happy harvest-time of other years, and now 
death is reaping its ghastly red harvest, and already the 
newspapers seem printed in blood. The details of the 
Russian reverse are too horrible to dwell on. A whole 
battahon of 900 men killed in the space of a few moments. 
It seems that really the best thing to be hoped for is one 
huge decisive battle between the French and the Germans, 
which might put an end for ever to the bloodshed. 

As for England, I hardly dare imagine what may 
happen. It is a constant dread to me to think of all 
those I love being in danger and anxiety. One can do 
nothing as a woman but remain passive and look on, 
although on a perfect rack of torment. The German 
navy won't be able to do much harm, as it is shut up 
in the Baltic, so that we shaU have no huge naval 
disasters. I suppose, however, one great sea battle will 
have to take place, although the German navy own 
they won't have a chance against the EngUsh on the 
open sea. 

Berlin, August 10, 1914. — I feel I must take up some 
work, for this passive waiting is too much for my nerves. 
So I have been to see Princess Pless about Red Cross 
work. I met Countess Sierstorpff, Princess Jane Lynar, 
and Count Hochberg there. We all went to a KHnik, to 
hear Dr. Hiss lecture on first aid. Princess Pless is 



i6 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

already fully trained, and is bent on going to the front, 
as soon as the wounded begin to arrive. Princess Lynar 
and I have decided to get attached to some Lazarett in 
Berlin, where the Ughter cases will be brought later on. 

On parting with the Pless party, Count Hochberg said : 
" Good-bye ; the war will be over in two months, and you 
and I will be meeting again in England." I smiled at 
this cheerful prophecy ; it is the thing I am praying for 
night and day. 

Berlin, August ii, 1914. — ^To-day I went to the pohce 
station to get my passport, as until now it has been 
impossible for me to be out in the streets alone without 
an American badge. It is now forbidden to speak English 
through the telephone or in any pubhc place. 

Gebhard met Baron Kiihlmann downstairs (the late 
Secretary of the German Embassy in England). He 
travelled over with us. He was very much upset, for he 
had just changed a lot of money for travelling to head- 
quarters at the front, when a telegram arrived ordering 
him to go to Stockholm this evening, as the German 
minister has utterly broken down, owing to the great 
strain on his health of the last few weeks. 

News has just arrived of a German victory in Alsace ; 
the losses are said to be heavy. 

The fall of Liege is an accomphshed fact, and people 
have ceased being astonished at it. They are hurrying 
on with the victorious troops which are already in Namur. 
This seems to have been an act of unprecedented strategy 
and valour, only field-guns being used. In three days the 
town capitulated. People say that the Belgians fight 
badly, and that the army- is utterly demorahzed. Already 
ghastly rumours are being spread of cruelty to Belgian 
civilians, and their ill-treatment of the wounded German 
soldiers. The Austrian and German Armies have united 
on the Eastern frontier, and the Russian Army is being 
driven into Bessarabia. 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 17 

This afternoon we went to a big American meeting at 
the Rathaus, where the American Ambassador and the 
Mayor of Berhn addressed them, and tried to impress 
them with the intense friendship existing between the 
two countries. The Ambassador omitted mentioning the 
subject of a ship which was to be chartered to take 
Americans home, and for news of which most of them 
had attended the meeting, being chiefly business people 
over on the Continent for a hohday. There are, I hear, 
75,000 Americans in Germany, and 25,000 alone in Berlin. 
Amongst those at the meeting was Baroness Sternburg, 
the pretty little American widow of the late German 
Ambassador in Washington. She is a friend of mine of 
former happier days. 

Countess Sierstorpff brought me an introduction for 
attending one of the first-aid courses which are to com- 
mence to-morrow. I shall be glad to take up some 
systematic work which will distract my attention from 
the gruesome details of the newspapers. One piece of 
news, however, did me a good deal of good to-day ; it 
was from some German refugees who have just arrived in 
Berlin, and who assured me that all England is against the 
war, and a regular propaganda is being spread against it. 



Berlin, August 12, 1914. — ^This morning I went off 
to the Bethanien Krankenhaus, where my nursing course 
is being held. It took a long time getting there, but it 
is a magnificent place. It is so big, it is almost like a 
town in itself, and perfectly modern and up-to-date in 
every respect. We were about thirty ladies attending 
the course, and Count Hochberg the only man. I did 
not hear the names of all the ladies. I sat next to Prin- 
cess Ernst Giinther, the Emperor's sister-in-law. The 
doctor is one of the cleverest and best-known men in 
Berlin. He lectured splendidly, demonstrating all his 
remarks on a small boy. The nurses told us they are 

c 



i8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

expecting wounded every moment. The German casual- 
ties are already 3000 dead and 4000 wounded on the 
Belgian field alone. 

In the evening there is usually a large gathering of 
friends in the lounge of the Esplanade. We are an inter- 
national collection of birds of passage, united by a common 
feeling of suspense and anxiety. There were Prince and 
Princess Wied, he expecting orders to go off any moment, 
and Prince and Princess Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Prince 
H. is leaving for the front to-morrow night. He is a 
cousin to King George, and looks and is English in every 
way. Prince Stolberg was also of our party, besides 
Countess Seherr-Thoss and her parents. 

We talked of the size of the different armies, and they 
said that the German army has refused 1,300,000 volun- 
teers, as not being required at present. The French 
army up to now is 3,000,000, and the Russians are putting 
6,000,000 into the field. The famous escape of the cruiser 
Goeben was freely discussed ; her adventures have been 
really marvellous, and Germany is greatly elated, as 
anything like getting the best of England in a naval 
tug-of-war sends their spirits up with a run. 

Whilst dining with Count Ballestrem at the " Astoria," 
to our great amazement Baron Roeder and his wife 
suddenly walked in. We had heard that they were in 
Switzerland, unable to get here. They are very old 
friends of ours. He has been the Master of Ceremonies 
in Berlin for many years, and is a confidant of the Kaiser. 
She is EngUsh. She has two daughters married, one to 
a German, and one to an Enghshman, and they are fight- 
ing on opposite sides. 

We were delighted to meet again, so often in the past 
we had agreed with one another on the difficulties of 
marr3dng a man of another nation ; how one's patriotism 
gets trodden upon, and how the thorns prick us in both 
countries at once. Their journey seems to have been 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 19 

appalling, and lasted eight days instead of twenty-four 
hours, as they were continually being turned out of the 
trains they were in, and finally arrived in an empty 
troop-train which was in the most filthy condition possible. 

Berlin, August 14, 1914. — The Austrian Diplomatic 
Corps from St. Petersburg have arrived at the Esplanade, 
en route for Vienna. They are all very depressed at 
leaving so many friends behind them. We are expecting 
the Austrian Embassy also from London in a day or two. 
They are all friends of mine. I wonder if they will bring 
me any letters from home. 

Three young counts have suddenly turned up here 
too ; they were stopped at Southampton, on their way 
from Washington, but were allowed to proceed on their 
way after having satisfied Scotland Yard that they were 
not spies. Of course I accosted them with eager ques- 
tions about England, and what they told me has reassured 
me in some measure. What relieved me most was to 
hear that the English Expeditionary Force has not yet left, 
and cannot arrive before to-day or to-morrow. Please 
God, they will arrive too late for the great battle going 
on. We have heard nothing certain for the last forty- 
eight hours, but as no news means bad news nowadays, 
we beheve some great fight is taking place. 

Berlin, August 16, 1914. — We have left the Esplanade 
and have settled down in a smaller hotel near the Klinik, 
where I am going to nurse. 

The Emperor left this morning for headquarters at the 
seat of war. None knows where it is, not even the 
Empress. He was attended by a few of&cials. Baron 
Jagow amongst them. He was very solemn and pensive 
and would express no opinion to any one, and refused 
to see any one a few days before leaving. It is being 
said that he has gone to Mainz, and that a big battle is 
being fought at Namur. 

News comes trickling in from England. No naval 
engagement so far, thank God. 



20 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

August 17, 1914. — Attended my lectures with many 
others. Am learning a great deal. We practise band- 
aging and putting splints on one another, Wounded 
have already arrived, but it must be fearful at the front. 
Sixty more nurses have been telegraphed for. 

Berlin, August 19, 1914. — Poor Baroness L got 

news that her husband was mortally wounded, and went 
off at once to see him. He had died meanwhile, and the 
poor woman got shot herself passing through a village 
on the frontier. They leave two small orphan children. 

Every one is admiring the Empress as woman and 
mother. She has six sons and one son-in-law going into 
danger, and in the midst of preparations for departure 
she was the calmest and most cheerful of every one, and 
helped to pack things with her own hands. Every news- 
paper sets her up as an ideal for German women, willing 
to offer everything and without complaint for the weal 
of the Fatherland. But I think a poor woman who offers 
her only son is even more to be pitied and praised. 

The first French prisoners have arrived, and are being 
sent to work at the harvest. 

Berlin, August 21, 1914. — Great news, the fall of 
Brussels ! Fierce joy reigns everywhere. The bells ring 
out in the moonlight air, there are shouts and cries of 
pride and gladness in the streets, and people embrace 
one another, frantic with delight. The Pope is dead, 
the poor old man. It is certain that the shock of the 
fearful outbreak of war hastened his end. 

Berlin, August 23, 1914. — I am beginning nursing 
in earnest, and have taken up work at the Franciscan 
sanatorium, where the sisters are all nuns. To-day I 
wore uniform for the first time, and I shall assist at 
some difficult operations soon. 

Berlin, August 24, 19 14. — This new work prevents 
my mind from dwelhng too constantly on the sadness 
of the times. I see so much suffering that I feel my own 



BERLIN, AUGUST 1914 21 

home-sickness is almost, a sin in comparison to the pain 
there is in the world ; and as I hope and beheve things 
cannot go on hke this much longer, I must try and fight 
against it. There are already many wounded in Berhn ; 
in one hospital Germans and Belgians can be seen peace- 
ably smoking and chatting together at the windows, 
whilst the people bring them improvised offerings of 
flowers, cigarettes, etc. Amongst the Russian wounded, 
so many have been observed to have slashes over their 
heads that they were asked the reason, and said their 
officers had hit them with their swords to make them 
advance. 

Berlin, August 26, 1914. — On returning from my 
hospital work to-day, I nearly fainted with joy at seeing 
a letter from my mother lying on my dressing-table. It 
is the first news I have received from home, and on the 
fact becoming known, every one came to congratulate 
me, as if I had performed some special feat. No one 
else had heard from England yet, but I knew my mother 
would manage to get news through in some way, for in 
the most difficult situations she has never failed her 
children yet. I remember how my brother, who died 
in Africa, used to tell us that when he was once up 
country for a year on the Gold Coast, whenever a native 
runner was seen in the distance his brother officers used 
to turn laughingly to him, saying : " There's your 
runner bringing your weekly letter from your mother, 
lucky fellow." 

What a terrible thing the new Krupp 42-inch mortar 
is. It was kept very secret until now. It is so powerful, 
they say, that it can destroy any modem fort with a few 
shells, and smashed three forts round Liege in half an hour. 

There are gloomy reports from the East Front. The 
Russians are well into East Prussia, and we hear dreadful 
stories of their cruelty to the population there. General 
v, Pritzelwitz has been recalled for his blunders, and a 



22 AiN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

General Hindenburg, quite an old man, has taken his 
place. They say he knows every inch of the ground in 
East Prussia, and the German troops are again getting 
the upper hand. A great battle is raging in Poland. 
The Austrians have the chief work there, and all my best 
friends and many of my husband's relations are fighting 
there. Last night. Princess Rosa Hohenlohe brought her 
son to introduce to me. He is such a handsome youth, 
only seventeen years old, and 6 feet 2 inches tall. He 
looked so radiant in his new uniform, at the thought of 
soon going out to the front, that it made me quite sad 
to see him. I asked his mother why she did not try to 
keep one so young back for some time. She answered 
that the temptation was indeed great, but that no mother 
would be forgiven if she showed weakness at a time hke 
this ; so that although her heart was breaking, she must 
keep up a smiUng face 

Berlin, August 31, 1914. — This morning there were 
details of the naval engagement near Heligoland. Both 
sides fought gallantly, and the papers here add especial 
thanks to the Enghsh for the way they saved so many of 
the German crews from drowning. There seems to be 
much more chivalry shown on sea than on land, where 
the troops are mowing one another down like dried grass. 

Berlin, September i, 1914. — ^To my horror, another 
English defeat has been reported at St. Quentin. I hear 
they have been driven back at Maubeuge and Mons, and 
I can hardly think of it without tears. I have made out 
a list of my relations and friends, and sent them to the 
doctors in the frontier towns, asking them to let me know 
if their names are on the hsts. I mean to find out some 
way of getting news, in spite of all regulations to the 
contrary. The German papers all say the English fought 
splendidly, but are wanting in training and discipline, 
and ... I hold my tongue at this criticism and only 
say that England has often begun a campaign with 
reverses, but in the end she is indomitable. 



BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1914 23 

Berlin, September 2, 1914. — To-day I went out to the 
Griinewald to see the arrival of trains full of wounded, 
in the hope that I might see some EngUsh and help them, 
but it turned out to be a false report, and they were only 
transport trains carrying troops from the Western Front 
to Russia. There was a tremendous reception, but the 
troops looked too weary to respond to it, very different 
from those of a short time ago. The railway carriages 
were all decorated with flowers, and to my intense 
indignation stuffed-out figures of men dressed in the 
uniforms of English Grenadier Guardsmen were fastened 
on to some of the trucks. I am haunted with the thought 
of who may have worn just one of these uniforms. 

From Baroness Roeder's windows we watched some 
of the victorious regiments with their captured guns 
march past. There was music, with captured Russian, 
French, and English flags, and poor weary Cossack horses 
dragging the guns. I heard details of the defeat of the 
French and Enghsh at St. Quentin. Baron Reischach, 
who had been there, said that the English cavalry had 
been caught in a French stampede and had been forced 
to retire. The infantry had been overwhelmed in spite 
of their efforts at resistance. I heard that at the roll-call 
after the battle, only three men of one battalion answered 
the call. 

The Zeppelins are said to be creating a panic all over 
Europe, but even here many people say they are not fair 
warfare. A woman may not carry arms, and is shot if 
she tries to defend herself ; yet a bomb from a Zeppelin 
can kill her and her children any day. 

Berlin, September 4, 1914. — Again news of German 
successes everywhere. Everything seems to fall at their 
approach. They are nearing Paris rapidly. Nothing is 
talked of night and day but the expected entry there. 
The Russian hordes are being driven like cattle into the 
lakes and morasses of East Prussia. Hindenburg is 
marvellous, they say. 



24 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

In the midst of all the tragedy of to-day, very funny 
things too sometimes happen. I called on a Mrs. D., 
an English lady who is detained here, and who is very 
nervous and depressed in consequence. When I arrived 
at the hotel she was in bed, and whispered to me, " Shut 
and lock the door, and speak very low ; I have got some- 
thing to show you," whereupon she pulled from under 
her pillow a copy of the Daily Mail, already three weeks 
old. I could not help bursting out laughing, to think we 
had come to rejoicing over an old copy of the Daily Mail. 

Berlin, September 6, 1914. — 

Lieb Vaterland magst ruhig sein, 

Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhein. 

I think I shall hear these words ringing in my ears to 
my d3dng day. The whole life in the Germany of to-day 
seems to move to the rhythm of this tune. Every day 
troops pass by my window on their way to the station, 
and as they march along to this refrain, people rush to 
the windows and doors of the houses and take up the 
song so that it rings through the streets, almost like a 
solemn vow sung by these men on their way to death. 
There is no doubt the whole nation is worked up to a 
frenzy of patriotism which is sometimes very moving, 
and at other times very aggravating, as they are incapable 
of comprehending the mentahty of any one to whom 
" Das Vaterland " is not the one country worth living 
and dying for in the world. They are fighting against 
a world of devils, they say, and have risen hke one man to 
do it. 

We lunched with Herr and Frau Solf. He is the 
Colonial Minister, and is intensely depressed at the loss 
of the German colonies, Samoa, etc. I laughingly told 
him to cheer up, as according to the newspapers here, he 
would soon have the English ones too, as Germany 
intended forcing Englaad on to her knees, if only to save 
the colonies. He assured me he would be satisfied to 
get back his own alone. 



BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1914 25 

Berlin, September 6, 1914. — Countess Lori Oppersdorff, 
one of my best friends, has just arrived from Russia, 
after a ten days' journey alone with her maid. She had 
heard endless abuse of Germany, and of the atrocities of 
the troops. In fact, every country is circulating the 
most appalling stories of the brutality of the enemy ; 
and here one hears horrible details of the cruelty of the 
French and Belgian women towards the German troops. 
Thank God I have not yet heard a single word breathed 
of this kind about the English soldiers, although the 
general view is that they are as innocent of military 
science and strategical tactics as the babe unborn. The 
only thing they do say about the English is that they are 
using dum-dum bullets, which inflict most horrible wounds. 

I asked a German officer whether the prevailing reports 
of the cruelty of the German soldiers to the Belgian 
population were true, and he told me they were much 
exaggerated, but that in Aix there were thirty officers 
Ipng at that moment in hospital, with their eyes put 
out by women and children in Belgium. The troops 
who hear these things go mad with rage, and revenge 
their comrades by burning and killing as they pass through 
the land. This sounds to me quite incredible. 



Berlin, September 7, 1914. — ^The last few days I have 
met so many people and heard so many different reports, 
that I hardly know what to beheve or think. On Sunday 
last we met the Henckels, Larisches, Hohenlohes, etc., 
and in the afternoon Countess Doda Oppersdorff (the 
beautiful Polish wife of Count Oppersdorff) came in and 
brought Baron Goldsmith Rothschild from the German 
Embassy in England, with Count Talleyrand, whose 
relations are all in Paris. Count Talleyrand says that 
Zeppelins are not really so alarming as people think, and 
that a bomb from a Zeppelin could not hit a Dreadnought. 
Zeppelins are only of use in bombarding towns, and no 
single one could get across to London, and that it is 



26 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

quite impossible for the German fleet to do any damage 
to the Enghsh Channel fleet. But on the other hand I 
have authentic evidence that a Krupp gun is being 
constructed which can shoot from Calais to Dover. 
That is why the troops are being hurried up there. One 
officer even asserted that in a fortnight German troops 
will be in England. I don't believe that this is as easy 
as they think. 

Berlin, September 7, 1914. — On making further 
inquiries, I have heard that the Germans cannot bombard 
London, as it is an unfortified town. Many letters 
arrive now unopened from home, some very old. 

This morning quite early I received a telegram from 
one of my sisters, asking for news of a young 
cousin of ours, who is missing from the Enghsh Ex- 
peditionary Force. I had been inquiring every day to 
see if any relations' names were on the hsts of the wounded, 
but now I wired to every hospital on the Rhine, entered 
his name at every centre, and went to the War Office 
personally. Every one is kind and sympathetic in helping 
us to trace him, but we have heard nothing as yet. 
Princess Pless is helping me. She has relations fighting 
on the other side. I have just had a note from her saying 
she has been to see some of the Enghsh prisoners, and 
she will take me with her next time if possible. 

Berlin, September 8, 1914. — I was sitting working 
together with Princess Hohenlohe to-day. She was just 
talking about her son, and sajdng how reheved she was 
that he was not going out until October, as the fighting 
on the Russian Fronts is too horrible for words, when 
the door opened and he came in, looking so handsome 
and young in his uniform. Every one asked him how he 
had managed to get leave so suddenly from Potsdam, 
and he answered laughing that he had managed to get 
a half-holiday, and had come to spend it with her. I 
at once guessed the reason, and retired to leave them 
alone. My husband and I again met him in the evening 



BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1914 27 

and drawing us aside he said, " I am really going straight 
to the front to-morrow, as the losses amongst the officers 
in my regiment are fearful. We young ones have to 
replace them. I have not told my mother ; I want to 
spare her the parting." 

Berlin, September 9, 1914. — Maubeuge has been taken, 
one of the strongest French fortresses. It was a tre- 
mendous fight, they say, and for the first time I hear 
unqualified praise of the Enghsh. They are said to have 
fought magnificently, and only surrendered when every- 
thing was in flames. No news yet of my cousin. 
He is never out of my thoughts, and we spend our days 
inquiring for him. 

To-day we heard a piece of news which interested us. 
Old Prince Bliicher, my father-in-law, has been turned 
out of his island of Herm. It has been seized and con- 
fiscated by the Enghsh Government, and articles of all 
sorts are being printed about the Prince in the Enghsh 
papers. 

The mothers and wives here seem only to exist in 
trying to catch a ghmpse of their men-relatives who pass 
to and fro between France and Russia, as troops are 
secretly being withdrawn from the West Front, things are 
so bad in Russia. The sidehghts I get of the war are 
often terrible. Numbers of regiments are being sacri- 
ficed wholesale ; and a General whom every one is 
naming will, they say, be brought before a court-martial 
for sending a whole battahon to certain death, only to 
clear the way for the other troops. Another German 
battahon has been decimated by its own side, being 
mistaken for the enemy. Human life seems to be absol- 
utely valueless nowadays, and as all speed-limit has 
been taken off the mihtary motor cars, they fly along so 
fast that people are being killed all over the country. 



28 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

From the many jokes being made at the expense of 
the Highland kilt, I judge that some Scotch regiments 
must have been captured, and this will be a help to 
me in tracing out the whereabouts of my acquaintances. 
I have heard nothing of my cousin up to now, as it is 
forbidden to give the names of the woimded at the 
mihtary hospitals. I can only glean news by making 
friends with the doctors. 

Berlin, September ii, 1914. — The chief themes of 
conversation are the " German atrocities " and the 
Enghsh dum-dum bullets, both of which each country 
denies. The Germans declare they were never brutal 
unless in self-defence, but the stories one hears of the 
brutahty of certain German regiments to the Belgian 
civihans I fear I know are partly true, and then on 
the other hand Prince A. Salm, writing to a relation, 
says he saw with his own eyes two Belgian girls of 16 
and 12 years old mutilating a wounded German in an 
absolutely indescribable manner. 

The first wet day since our arrival ; every one de- 
pressed in consequence. People are hinting at a serious 
defeat somewhere, as the flags have been ordered to be 
taken away from the streets. 

At the Adlon Hotel this morning I talked to Count 
Talleyrand and Baron G. Rothschild. They have rela- 
tions in all countries, so that their sympathies are very 
broad. They declare that the English have defeated the 
Germans on the left flank outside Paris. 

Berlin, September 12, 1914. — No news means bad 
news, and nothing is heard of the operations round 
Paris. Another panic is being caused by the doubts as 
to America's neutrality. She is financing France, it 
seems, and this is a great shock to Germany, although 
President Wilson has published a letter expressing his 
readiness to intervene in both countries for peace. The 
new Pope too has expressed his views in the same way. 



BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1914 29 

I hope that this will all tend towards opening up 
negotiations, but people here talk so much of the 
Freemasons' war, and of the society being so strong 
everywhere, that the Pope will be ignored. 

Berlin, September 18, 1914. — Strange that we hear so 
little of the fighting round Paris. We have all been 
expecting to hear of their triumphant entry every day. 
The fighting, they say, is very hard, and there are tremen- 
dous losses on either side, but I am beginning to think 
the tide has turned against the Germans, hence this 
sudden silence. 

Most of our friends are very international, so that our 
conversation often grows doubtful, as our sympathies are 
very divided. Indeed we feel torn in two sometimes 
with anxiety and the conflict of our feelings. 

Princess Miinster, who is English by birth (sister to 
Lord KinnouU), writes in the same strain, as her son is 
fighting here, and her cousin on the other side. She is 
helping me to make inquiries for my relation. My 
application to the Empress through Countess Brockdorff 
to see the English prisoners has been refused, as the 
regulations have become stricter. We all know why, 
although it is supposed to be a great secret. Princess 
Pless is said to have visited some prisoners without 
permission. As she came away she was heard to say, 
" Keep up your spirits," which has been interpreted 
into a hope for the English gaining the war, and has 
caused much bitterness amongst the Anglophobians 
here. It seems to me to have been a very harmless 
remark. 

We have at last discovered means of buying the Times, 
and have bought up as many old numbers as we can get. 
And at last we can see what the EngUsh are really doing 
or thinking. It is as if a thick curtain dividing us from 
the outside world had suddenly been drawn aside, giving 
us a glimpse of it. 



30 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

What curious reports are being circulated in England. 
Great French and Russian victories are being mentioned ; 
the French are said to be already in possession of the 
frontier towns ; the Russians are said to be quite near 
BerUn ; whilst Berlin is in flames, and in a state of 
starvation, panic, and revolution. 

How shall we ever know the truth in any country ? 
Some people tell me that the German official telegrams 
are incorrect, but I beheve their sins are more of omis- 
sion than of commission. How I dread the sight of the 
casualty list in the Times. I shudder each time I read 
it, but it is a tremendous help to me, as in this way I 
am able to learn the names of all the regiments that have 
been sent out, and the whereabouts of their engagements, 
so that I can give every information when inquiring at 
the Central Office for missing or wounded. Good news 
from home so far. 

Berlin, September 20, 1914. — We lunched with a party 
of big finance magnates to-day. The conversation turned 
on the Emperor, and his visions of gaining the supremacy 
of the world by destro3dng the British fleet by means of 
submarines and Zeppehns. I don't believe for a moment 
that he will ever gain this end, but Germany has more 
and better submarines than England, and the magnificent 
EngUsh Dreadnoughts could do httle against them. Lord 
Charles Beresford (or Sir Percy Scott) was quite right 
when some years ago he begged England not to continue 
spending money on big battleships, but to build more 
submarines, as therein lay the future safety or danger of 
the sea. 

One of the ladies of the party was the wife of one of 
the commanders of the camps. She commented on the 
extraordinary difference in the characters of the military 
prisoners. According to her, the French and Russians 
are dirty and never wash themselves, and loaf about 
grumbling all day. The English are clean and smart, 
and always cheerful, and, as she added, they can be kept 



BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1914 31 

amused and occupied for hours by giving them a ball to 
knock about. A typical German description of the game 
of football ! 

I should hke some day to write the praises of the 
English prisoners, just from what I have heard from 
Germans who have visited the camps or been in command 
of them. 

" You cannot make an Enghsh ofificer grumble or 
complain," said one German officer to me. " If he does 
not like a thing, well, he bears it in a dignified way or 
else he turns it off into a joke. Nothing makes some of 
our German officers more mad with rage than when they 
go and shout out their commands in the highly dicta- 
torial manner some of them have, and find that the 
command is only received with a chorus of laughter from 
the Enghsh officers." 

To-day I took some copies of our precious Times to 
show to Princess Pless. Alone together, we threw off 
our mask of passive waiting, and confessed to one another 
our burning interest in England and the Enghsh. In 
society we are always being watched in a so-called friendly 
suspicious manner, but here we are free to express our 
innermost thoughts. 

Berlin, September 23, 1914. — Nothing definite is 
known as to the fate of the Germans round Paris ; it 
is a harder fight than people anticipated. I hear that it 
is the English who have turned the luck of the German 
army, and are keeping them at bay. Every one has 
been expecting the entry of the Kaiser at the head of his 
troops into Paris for ten days past, but it looks as if he 
would not get there now. 

We lunched with the new Austrian Ambassador and 
his wife, Prince and Princess G. Hohenlohe. The great 
topic of interest was the destruction of the three English 
cruisers by the German submarine. What a terrible 



32 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

thought it is, the picture of those splendid ships with their 
gallant crews slowly sinking without having been able to 
defend themselves in any way. Only 700 of 2000 men 
were saved. Here there is great rejoicing, but I feel sick 
at heart. 

Berlin, September 28, 1914. — Countess C , an 

American, has to-day arrived in Berhn from England, 
where she has been with her children since the outbreak 
of the war. From her we hear graphic descriptions of 
England, and gather how httle they know of the real 
state of affairs here. She said that the English papers 
reported Berlin to be in a state of famine and revolution, 
so she had brought provisions with her for three weeks 
and two huge sacks of flour. Of course she was very 
much laughed at for this. Of the German victories 
nothing was known. General Hindenburg's campaign in 
East Prussia never having been mentioned in the Enghsh 
press. She accounted for it by the fact that all the 
telegrams come from Petrograd, and the Russians let 
nothing through. On my asking her, " Does no one in 
England know the truth ? " she rephed that a few days 

before she had met a Colonel M. E of the Foreign 

Office, who had just been ordered abroad to fill up the gap 
left by some officer, and on her congratulating him and 
asking him if he were not delighted to be going out, he 
answered, " No, I belong to the Foreign Office, and 
therefore unfortunately know the truth and that there 
is no reason for congratulation." She also said that she 
had spoken to a well-known newspaper correspondent, 
who was writing optimistic articles for the Times. She 
remarked that the day's news looked very well for 
England, and he had replied, " I think it all looks 
damned bad, but we must never let that be known." 

Last week some 800 English women from here went 
home, and one of them wrote to me shortly afterwards 
and said (in cipher) that Kitchener had muzzled the 
Press, and that it is fearfully strictly censored. 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1914 33 

Berlin, September 30, 1914. — The Hohenlohes have 
left Berhn. We shall miss them dreadfully, having been 
always together for the last six weeks. Their boy has 
not been in an engagement so far. 

I am doing regular hospital work and spend all my 
mornings in the operating-room, where civilians as well 
as soldiers are treated. It is heart-rending to see so 
many fine strong men maimed and crippled. Helping 
thus, the terrors of war seem to be brought nearer to 
our eyes. They are such nice men too, with nice 
manners, and are so grateful for a word of kindness, 
and so thoughtful for each other's sufferings. As I help 
to bandage them, I always feel inchned to ask if they 
have been kilhng or torturing women and cripples, for 
they look as if they could hurt nobody. I refrain, how- 
ever. I am perhaps happiest in my doubts. 

Berlin, October i, 1914. — People are beginning to 
reaUze gradually that some great mistakes have been 
made in the West, and that if France had recognized the 
position, things might have become very serious for this 
country. As it was, Germany had time to hurry up 
reinforcements from Belgium. General von Kluck went 
forward too fast, with no reserves behind him, and part 
of his army was cut off. 

Berlin, October 2, 1914. — I had tea at the American 
Embassy, and met the whole American clan there. 
They refuse now to send letters or telegrams to England, 
on the ground that it is not neutral. People who have 
been staying in England gave me various news, as, for 
instance, the great precautions that are being taken 
against Zeppehns. One lady said she was sta3dng at The 
Hague when Captain Nicholson from one of the three 
sunk cruisers was brought in. He was unconscious, but 
recovered afterwards. He described the sinking as a very 
fine naval feat, the submarine having come two hundred 
miles from its base, and being in imminent danger the 
whole time. 

D 



34 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Berlin, October 3, 1914. — Count Talleyrand has 
brought me some illustrated London papers with pictures 
of the airship patrols for defending the coasts against 
Zeppelins. Only a few days ago the military officials 
here asked for a hundred volunteers for an action that 
would mean certain death. Every one guessed Zeppelins 
for England. They got the hundred men within one day. 
They intend trying to blow up the London docks and the 
Woolwich Arsenal, I am told. 

The military and naval authorities here are very 
candid in their criticisms of the relative strengths of 
the different countries. They say the moral effect the 
British troops have had on the French since their arrival 
is marvellous, as the French were demorahzed ; also that 
the French and EngUsh aeroplanes are better than the 
German. 

Berlin, October 4, 1914. — We lunched at the Carlton 
Hotel with the Roeders, Lori Oppersdorff, and Baron 
Jagow, the Chief of the Police. Every one is expecting 
the fall of Antwerp. Prince Miinster came in the after- 
noon with fresh lists of wounded and missing English 
officers, and told us that he was considered to have 
pro-English sympathies because he had tried to do an 
act of kindness to some English officers who are prisoners 
of war. He had been given leave to visit the English 
officers, but it had been postponed on account of Major 
Yate having escaped. This poor officer was recaptured 
and thereupon committed suicide, but he spoilt the 
chances of more liberty for the other officers thereby. 

Berlin, October 9, 1914. — Antwerp has fallen ! The 
news came early this morning. Again great public 
rejoicings. Bells ringing, houses flagged, cannon firing, 
and the people drunk with exultation. How things will 
end if the Germans go on piling up successes I don't 
know. 

It is no good noting particulars ; every one in the 
world will know them in a few days ; but from what I 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1914 35 

hear, all hopes of the Allies outflanking the German 
right wing are dispersed. My own feelings are chiefly of 
distress and dismay, when I see all the thanksgivings 
celebrated here. 

Berlin, October 12, 1914. — Sometimes one's feelings 
are hurt beyond description. On the evening of the 
fall of Antwerp, there was a large dinner party at the 
Esplanade. We were present. It had become an under- 
stood thing among us that during this time of anxiety 
and suspense no one should wear smart decollete evening 
dress. However, some of the outside guests did not 
know our rule, or if they did they ignored it, and one 
lady arrived in a very transparent low-necked dress, 
suitable for a grand ball in the height of the season. 
Some one remarked : " You are very smart to-night, 
madame." " Yes," she said, with a beam of pleasure. 
" I put this on to celebrate the fall of Antwerp ; but wait 
until you see the dress I am keeping for the day when 
England is beaten." 

I could have stabbed her, and I think if looks can 
hurt, my look must have penetrated into the marrow of 
her bones. Some one afterwards apologized to me, but 
I did not want any personal apology. The point was 
that, whoever was the victor, hundreds and thousands 
of men of all countries were at that moment lying in 
their death agony in consequence. 

General Moltke, they say, has resigned, owing to ill- 
health according to public accounts, but in reahty it 
seems that great differences have arisen between him 
and the Kaiser. Moltke wanted to make straight for 
Calais. If he had done this, people here affirm that 
Germany would have won the war already, as if the 
German army had reached the coast before the English 
arrived there, the French would have been defeated. It 
seems, however, that the Kaiser's personal vanity and his 
weakness for theatrical pomp and show got the upper 



36 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

hand. He countermanded Moltke's orders, and insisted 
on the troops making for Paris, which he hoped to enter 
at the head of his victorious army. It is being whispered 
here that this defeat on the Marne may prove the decisive 
turning of the war, and the greatest misfortune for 
Germany, in spite of her successes everywhere else. 

Berlin, October 13, 1914. — We had a very animated 
discussion at dinner last night. A German diplomat 
was present, and we almost fell out on the everlasting 
subject of which nation was the chief cause of the war. 
I, being of EngHsh birth, can only see the facts from the 
English point of view. My husband tried to explain 
that the mistake had been made years ago, when Germany 
refused the offer of an alHance with England, and con- 
tinued enlarging her navy. I believe it was under 
Prince Billow's regime. However, our German diplomat 
still maintained that Russia is entirely responsible for 
the outbreak, egged on by France and England. Of 
course we ended up by some one saying, " Well, what 
about Bethmann's ' scrap of paper ' ? " To which the 
diplomat was in an ecstasy of delight at being able to 
retort, " Lord Salisbury must have been of the same 
opinion when he said in one of his speeches that 
' Agreements were made to be broken.' " 

We gradually left this dangerous ground, for I suppose 
the question will never be satisfactorily answered, and 
discussed the different qualities of the soldiers of the 
belligerent nations. I was glad to notice that the Germans 
made a point of praising the behaviour of the English 
officers and men. They admired their equipment and 
splendid physique, and their dogged determination in 
face of odds. Several stories were related of their kindness 
to the wounded and captured. These remarks did a 
great deal towards comforting my wounded pride and 
the pain I have felt at the English reverses at St. Quentin 
and Maubeuge. I have never yet heard of any tales 
of cruelty on the part of my countrymen. 



DERNEBURG, OCTOBER 1914 Z1 

Talking to some wounded soldiers the other day, I 
asked them what had turned the tide of luck in the 
Marne battle. They said it was the number of fresh 
English troops that had told. They had arrived in all 
sorts of vehicles, and he himself had seen London street 
omnibuses arriving on all sides, still with their gay 
advertisements painted on them. They looked as if 
they had come over from Piccadilly without a stop. I 
thought the man was imagining this, but an officer 
has corroborated this story, and told me they were so 
unprepared in all these matters that they took any 
conveyance ready to hand. 

Berlin, October 14, 1914. — The victory of Tannenberg 
will go down to posterity as one of the most marvellous 
of modem times. Some of the horrors of it are so ghastly 
that an eye-witness, an officer, who has just returned 
from there, says it will live in his dreams to his dying 
day. The sight of thousands of Russians driven into 
two huge lakes or swamps to drown was ghastly, and 
the shrieks and cries of the dying men and horses he will 
never forget. So fearful was the sight of these thousands 
of men, with their guns, horses and ammunition, struggling 
in the water, that, to shorten their agony, they turned 
the machine-guns on them. But even in spite of that, 
there was movement seen among them for a week after. 
And the mowing down of the cavalry brigade at the same 
time, 500 mounted men on white horses, all killed and 
packed so closely that they remained standing. The 
officer says that this sight was the ghasthest of the 
whole war. 

Derneburg, October 16, 1914. — Here I am, arrived 
and settled at Derneburg, Prince Miinster's place near 
Hildesheim, Hanover. I travelled with Princess Miinster 
and her niece, Countess Marie Platen, who is staying 
here. 

We left Berlin at 8 o'clock in the morning, and got 
here at 2, and the peace of it is indescribable. It is a 



38 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

most beautiful old castle, which was once a monastery. 
It is surrounded by a park with lovely trees and woods, 
and a lake in front, and hills in the distance. It is like 
suddenly being transplanted back to one of the old 
beautiful homes in England, and the life we lead here 
is thoroughly English. We go for long walks in the woods, 
and visit the stables, gardens and farm. The servants 
are all the old-fashioned sort of deferential loyal country 
people, and the village consists of the wives and children 
of the men working on the estate ; and we just go round 
daily, talking to them and asking them news of their 
relations who are in the war. After the strenuous life 
of gossiping and society in Berlin this is like reaching a 
haven of rest, and it is difficult to realize that there is 
such a fearful thing as war going on in the world. 

We are not altogether idle, however. Princess Miinster 
and I get numberless letters and telegrams daily from 
quite unknown people in England and elsewhere, im- 
ploring us to send news of their relations. Directly we 
get such a wire or letter, we have to begin pulling the 
strings, which means no end of writing. We have to 
send the names in to the governors of each prison, and 
to the head doctor of each hospital at which we think 
he is likely to be. We are not allowed to be told who 
is in these places, and are only told who is not there. 

The authorities are most loth to give any information, 
and so we try to extract it from them by various round- 
about routes ; but it takes a long time, and we always 
feel sorry for those anxious relations waiting for the 
answer. But if we dare to show too much interest and 
anxiety, we are told we are pro-English at once. 

Derneburg, October i8, 1914.— There are ninety men 
gone to the war from these two httle villages alone, 
therefore the whole place is in a state of waiting suspense. 
Yesterday the poor village doctor got a post-card to say 
his son had been killed in action at the siege of Antwerp. 
Only the day before he had had a letter from him. 



DERNEBURG, OCTOBER 1914 39 

describing the horrors of the Ufe in the trenches, but 
saying he was well, and that that part was nearly over. 

The gardener has just returned wounded, and we 
have been having a most interesting conversation with 
him. He had been out since the beginning, and to 
outward appearance looks a most effeminate, soft little 
creature ; yet he has been through continual hardships 
for the last two and a half months, mostly in Belgium. 
He said he had never experienced any franc-tireur trouble, 
and where he was, the German soldiers behaved in an 
orderly way, and paid for everything they took in the 
villages. And in the Belgian hospital where he was, 
nothing could have been more peaceful or comfortable, 
and the English, French, Belgians and Germans had all 
their meals together, and sat and smoked together in a 
most friendly fashion, and that there was no real hate 
among them. 

The villages through which they passed, where the 
population was peaceful, they left unmolested ; but when 
the villagers fired on the soldiers, then they were ordered 
to burn down and to shoot into the middle of the escaping 
inhabitants if they were still armed. Thus many innocent 
perished with the guilty. 

One hears of such fearful horrors from those return- 
ing. One young German wounded officer, who had been 
spending his convalescence here, said that his regiment 
had been practically annihilated by their own side, 
through a mistake of his Colonel's. It was in Belgium, 
and they had arranged to scour a wood in silence, two 
different regiments from different sides, during the night. 
The Colonel, forgetting the arrangement that it was to 
be done in silence, suddenly shouted a word of command, 
and this was understood to be the signal to fire on the 
enemy. And then one regiment simply mowed down the 
other in the pitch dark, and the noise was so fearful 
that no one could hear the shouting to " cease fire " 
until it was too late. One regiment practically ceased 



40 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

to exist, except for this young officer and about forty 
men. He was in such a state of collapse from the horrors 
of the recollection that he was nearly out of his mind. 

Count Freddie Miinster, Prince Miinster's son, also 
had a horrible experience of the same sort, but escaped 
unharmed. He and his regiment were patrolling, and 
had to ride through a village which, when they entered 
it, appeared to be deserted. All the blinds were down, 
every window and door apparently shut, and not a soul 
to be seen. Suddenly the clock struck three, and at 
that moment a volley of bullets poured from every window, 
and the patrol had to gallop away into a wood, where 
they came under the fire of their own artillery, and 
suffered much loss before the mistake was discovered. 

Derneburg, October 29, 1914. — ^The Germans declare 
that not only are black troops being sent against them, 
but that the English convicts are being set loose on them, 
that they recognize them by the " blue convict brand " 
on their arms. If I tell them the English do not brand 
their convicts, and these are only tattoo marks, they 
won't believe me. Also they assert that many of the 
British soldiers carry knives with a special twist in them, 
meant to scoop out the eyes of the wounded Germans. 
When I tell them that these are knives carried by the 
sappers to cut their way through the forests, etc., they 
only shrug their shoulders and tell me I am pro-English. 

The ever-increasing number of reports of cruelty and 
bullying towards English prisoners is making me quite 
desperate. Thank God, Gebhard is joining me to-day, 
and we will set to work in good earnest to try and get 
to the roots of the matter. We are sending accounts 
of brutahty to the Foreign Office here, and I intend 
getting them reported at Headquarters, so that the 
perpetrators may be run to ground and punished, if not 
now, after the war. 

We have now a complete list of the unwounded 
English officers, and are able to write to them and send 



DERNEBURG, NOVEMBER 1914 41 

them parcels, and altogether try to do something to 
brighten their lives a little bit. It is, however, very 
difficult to reach the wounded prisoners, as communi- 
cation is almost impossible owing to the disorganization 
of the trains. 

The news becomes daily more and more desperate, 
and things are not going well for Germany. They have 
been driven back by the Russians in Poland, and on the 
West the English have made such a magnificent stand 
that the German advance along the coast and to Calais 
has proved a most stupendous undertaking, and they 
have made very httle progress. 

The description of the fighting is too horrible to write 
about, and I cannot think of it. Here the papers say 
that the English losses are in four figures, and that whole 
regiments have been mown down by the German big 
guns, and that the trenches have been stormed and there 
has been hand-to-hand fighting. 

The English naval guns are covering the coast. They 
are even firing into Ostend, which causes much comment 
here, as they say Ostend is an unfortified town ; and 
there are hundreds of English inhabitants there whom 
the German commander had to ask to leave, to protect 
them against their own guns. That is what is told 
us here. 

Derneburg, November 1914. — The chief topic at present 
is the defeat of the Russians at Lodz ; it is said to be an 
enormous victory for Germany. 

They are all beginning to be anxious about Italy, 
which apparently becomes more war-like and unneutral 
every day. But Germany sounds as confident as ever, 
though she has changed her tone a little. Now they say 
that they never had any intention of going to Calais, or 
that they have given up the idea, but personally I know 
they find it a more difficult task than they expected. One 
of my " candid friends " told me that the English have 



42 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

flooded the country, and that was what really turned them 
back. To use his own expression : " We had provided 
for twenty contingencies, but this was the twenty-first." 

They may get there yet, but whether they deny want- 
ing it or not, my personal opinion is, and it is shared by 
many, that the possession of Calais is the one great 
object of the war now from the Emperor's point of view. 
I think he has set his heart on this more than on 
anything else in the world. 

They have given up the idea of landing in England, 
and I don't think the highest authorities ever really 
thought it would be possible. They kept up the idea, as 
the population enthused more about this than about 
anything else, and it was the ambition of most of the 
soldiers fighting in the West. The authorities say 
candidly that they only contemplated it seriously just 
after the fall of Antwerp, when everything seemed to be 
pla3dng into their hands, and they thought they could 
make an unexpected dash along the coast. They had the 
transports ready, so it is said. The Zeppelin raids also 
have been a slight disappointment to Germany. They 
had been waiting for the fogs, and then expected to make 
a demonstration on the English coast, or near London. 
But I personally think that the shutting up of civilians 
in England in concentration camps has something to do 
in preventing this. 

Berlin, December 1914. — On our return to Berlin at 
the end of November we were startled by the announce- 
ment that Sir Roger Casement had arrived there. The 
wonder was how an Irishman, and an ex-Consul of the 
English Government, could have found his way here. 
But we were more interested than most, as we knew 
him well. He had been in Africa with my husband, and 
we had also seen a good deal of him in London at various 
times. We knew his anti-English feelings well, and his 
rabid Home Rule mania, but we did not expect it to have 
taken this intense form of becoming pro-German. 



BERLIN, DECEMBER 1914 43 

However, he had not been here many days before he 
came to see us. He told us the whole story, which can 
be read in any newspaper, of how when war broke out he 
went over to America, and there spent his time working 
among the Irish- Americans, advising them to go home, 
not to enhst for England, etc., telling them that England 
was only sending their countrymen to their death, and that 
in the future the only reward they would get was a promise 
of Home Rule which they had no intention of fulfilling. 

His efforts were, I suppose, crowned with some success, 
as eventually he determined to make his way into Ger- 
many to try and work up the Irish prisoners against 
England. His adventures on the journey are well known, 
and on his arrival in Norway, the British Minister, Mr. 
Finlay, offered a reward to any one who would bring him 
into their hands. Sir Roger, however, after a great deal 
of correspondence with some of his acquaintances in the 
Foreign Ofhce in Berlin, was eventually allowed to enter 
Germany, and was then given free access to the prison 
camps where the Irish prisoners were. 

My husband went to him shortly after his arrival and 
tried to show him what a false position he had put himself 
in, and that he had better leave the country as quickly 
as possible, but it was no use. So after that we refused 
to see him or have anything more to do with him. When 
we first saw him, he was most enthusiastic and certain of 
success, his idea being to try and make the Irishmen 
promise that if they were free they would not fight 
for England, and would use their influence to prevent 
recruiting in Ireland. He was not really successful 
an3rwhere. In fact, he soon became offended, because he 
said the Berlin Foreign Office did not trust him enough. 
We hinted to him that no one ever really trusted a 
traitor, at which he was greatly incensed, protesting that 
he was not that ; and he was hardly less so when others, 
trying to soften down the name, called him an Irish rebel. 
He did not like that either. 

His measure of success with the Irish prisoners may 



44 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

be summed up in the answer he got from one very raw 
Irishman whom he asked whether he did not hate Eng- 
land. The Irishman's reply was : " Well, we may hate 
England, but that does not make us love Germany." 

One bit of good news amidst the prevailing gloom. I 
have just been able to send a telegram to Lord Edmund 
Talbot through the Red Cross, to say that his son, who 
has been missing for some weeks, is now in hospital near 
Lille. How I came to obtain this information was as 
follows. I was hurrying through the hall of the 
Esplanade Hotel when an officer stopped me and said, 
" Excuse me, but are you not related to Lord Edmund 
Talbot ? " On my replying that I was, he said, " I am 
Count Welsczek, and a few days ago I was fortunate 
enough to be able to render first aid to his son, Captain 
Talbot of the nth Hussars. I and some brother officers 
were riding through a lane on the outskirts of Lille, when 
we were attracted by something moving in the ditch, 
which on nearer inspection we discovered to be a wounded 
English officer lying covered in mud and quite uncon- 
scious. We administered restoratives, and he soon re- 
vived enough to be taken to a hospital. The first remark 
he made, in his semi-conscious state, when being picked 
out of the ditch, was, ' I should like to have a bath, 
I'm so muddy ' " ; at which they all laughed very much, 
saying how hke an Enghshman it was to prefer having 
a bath to food or anything else in the world. 

Speaking of this relation reminds me of a great adven- 
ture, no less than a visit to my cousin Captain Trafford, 
who is a prisoner at Crefeld. I have never written about 
it, as I was told to keep it a secret so as to prevent others 
asking for the same privilege. 

It was indeed a very notable event my being allowed 
to see him, as the barrack regulations are extremely 
rigid on this point, and ladies are not supposed to be 
admitted at all. That an exception was made in my case 
was only due to the intervention of General v. Bissing, 



BERLIN, MARCH 1915 45 

who smoothed away all the difficulties and gave me 
leave to enter. And although I am perfectly conscious 
of all the rumours of his harshness which are current in 
the outside world, I shall not easily forget this spontaneous 
act of kindness to me. 

I found my cousin looking very well and in quite good 
spirits, in spite of the hardships he had gone through 
during his three weeks at the front, and also in spite of 
the discomforts I knew he must be experiencing in the 
camp. But as I was not allowed to speak to him alone, 
I could not really learn much about the true state of 
affairs at Crefeld, and it was a great trial to me and my 
husband to have to get up and go away as the clock 
struck the appointed hour, without being sure of being 
allowed to come again and not being able to do more in 
the way of adding comforts and luxuries for him and 
other officers, who we knew had arrived there with nothing 
but what they stood up in ; however, the commander 
and other officers at the camp were most courteous to 
us, and I have since realized what a great concession it 
was my being allowed to go there at all. One lives to 
learn to be thankful for small mercies in these days. 

Berlin, March 1915. — My husband is now regularly 
attached to the hospital train equipped by the Knights 
of Malta. This Order is very ancient, and purely 
religious in character, almost equivalent to the Knights 
of St, John in England. Its present members are still 
recognized in Austria as possessing sovereign rights in 
that country. The German branches in Silesia and on 
the Rhine are recognized as corporations for voluntary 
" Ambulance Service in War Time." Its organization is 
autonomous, and distinct from the Red Cross Society 
under the regulations of the Hague Convention. It is 
recognized by all the belligerent countries and is under 
the protection of international law. 

The Order possesses great wealth in Austria, and a 
strict investigation into ancestral quarterings is required. 



46 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

both, for honorary knights and knights of justice, the 
latter being required to take the vow of cehbacy. The 
Austrian Order has equipped no less than seven ambu- 
lance trains during the war, whilst the German branches 
have two trains running, the Silesian and the Rhenish- 
Westphalian. 

I felt very proud as I saw him start off on his first 
journey, wearing his smart new uniform with the Red Cross 
band on his arm. It was a comfort too to know what a 
good work he was undertaking, when he might have been 
setting off on such a different errand. I feel rather 
ashamed now of a somewhat bitter remark I made one 
day to a friend whose husband was at the front, and who 
came with me to see G. off. " Don't you feel proud of 
him ? " she said, and I answered : " Yes, indeed I do, 
and thank God he is going out to cure and not to kill." 
I rather regretted it when I saw the tears come into her 
eyes as she said : " But think of me, having to see my 
husband off to the West, to be one of those who are 
forming the human wall round our country to prevent so 
many enemies entering, to wipe us off the earth." 

Berlin, April 1915. — Glancing back over the last six 
months — one of the few things that really impressed 
themselves on my memory was the sinking of the 
Bliicher by the English on January 24. 

How well I remember the proud moment when, six 
months after my marriage, the Emperor sent for me in 
the middle of a Court ball in Berlin and asked me to 
launch the new cruiser Bliicher. How well I remember 
his words as he smilingly said to me : "I expect you 
will get into trouble with your English relations if 
you launch my battleships, now won't you ? " His well- 
known charm of manner attracted me so much, as it 
does all others. And then, four months after that date, 
we went to Kiel, and in the presence of Prince Henry of 
Prussia and the Princess, and General von der Goltz and 
others, I made my first German speech and broke the 



BERLIN, APRIL 1915 47 

champagne bottle, and the Blucher floated gracefully into 
the water. 

After the ceremony we went up to the castle for 
luncheon with Prince and Princess Henry of Prussia (she 
being sister to the Czarina of Russia and an English 
princess). We talked England, England, England — she 
telling us every little anecdote she could think of about 
her happy days at Windsor with old Queen Victoria, 
and how she and her sister had so intensely enjoyed 
rummaging in the old curiosity shops in the town of 
Windsor, saying laughingly : " We enjoyed mostly getting 
bargains of old bits of furniture, etc., which we had our 
suspicions had begun life in the castle itself, and had been 
' looted ' by servants at different periods, and found 
their way into these shops." 

Among this party for the launching was my sister 
Freda, who had come out from England with us for it, 
and since then she is married to Admiral Charlton, who 
is now at the Admiralty ; and, who knows ? maybe he was 
the very man who controlled this particular episode in 
the naval warfare ! 

The Blucher had, from the very beginning, ranked as 
an antiquated man-of-war, and was the slowest unit in 
the fleet. So it was arranged that she should be chosen 
to bear the brunt of battle, and stay behind to be sacri- 
ficed if necessary, to give the others time to retreat. 

The captain of the Blucher, when rescued out of the 
water, was taken to Edinburgh, and on his way there, 
got into conversation with the English naval officer in 
command of the guard over them. The German officer 
had told him that an Englishwoman had launched the 
Blucher, and that her photograph had gone down in the 
ship. " Yes," answered the English naval officer, " I 
happen to know all about it, as the lady is my sister-in- 
law. My name is Throckmorton." It is curious how 
small the world is. 

Berlin, May 1915. — For many weeks past I seem to 



48 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

have been leading an existence apart, cut off from all 
communion with my surroundings. My brother Wilfred's 
death at Ypres, of which I received news in November, 
seemed to render all the old familiar intercourse impos- 
sible. Now I am beginning once more to see people a 
little. 

In Holy Week (the week before Easter) my husband 
was away on one of his journeys with the Lazarett-Zug, 
and Count and Countess Larisch (Fritzi and May) asked 
me to go and stay with them here in Berlin, as I was 
quite alone. 

It was a homelike, peaceful time, and did me much 
good. May and her three little girls and I used each 
morning to go to Mass at the little Convent Chapel 
attached to the hospital at which I used to nurse. There 
we met Countess Henckel and her daughters. Princess 
Lowenstein with her children, and Countess Tattenbach, 
all cousins and connections. We used to meet outside 
the church-door twice each day, discussing the same 
news. It was like living in a little peaceful world of 
our own, in the centre of this big city, and this life of 
religion had a very soothing effect on my harassed nerves. 

I shall always remember one evening service early in 
the month. I had been kneeling there, trying to pray, 
when the music broke out into a beautiful hymn to the 
Mother of God, beseeching for comfort for all, in this 
time of grief. I was awakened by it, as if from a long 
dream, and I looked round, and the scene that I saw 
struck me to the heart. The altar all ablaze with candles 
and flowers, the Blessed Sacrament exposed there above, 
the priest and acolytes, the incense, and the congrega- 
tion, all wrapt in their devotional hymn ; Countess 
Henckel and her daughters, in nurses' dress, having 
come straight from their work in the hospital ; Princess 
Lowenstein and all her small children kneeling around 
her ; Countess Larisch with her little daughters ; the 
nuns of all ages and sizes ; the wounded soldiers, some 
with their arms in slings, some with faces bandaged up. 



BERLIN, MAY 1915 49 

some on crutches, having Hmped straight in from the 
wards ; and many unwounded soldiers in their tattered 
uniforms, home for a few days' leave and spending it 
thus. And at the back of the chapel knelt my husband 
and Prince Lowenstein ; my husband in the uniform of 
the Knights of Malta, with the Red Cross badge on his 
arm. Prince Lowenstein in the field uniform of the 
Bavarian army, leaning on their swords, with their eyes 
fixed on the tabernacle. These two officers, and all 
these soldiers and the congregation, were singing that 
hymn from the very depths of their hearts. They were 
absolutely oblivious of the outer world as they knelt 
there and poured out their supplication to God in this 
hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

I stopped and asked myself : " Can you hate these 
people as you think you do, can you not see any good in 
them, can you not understand how they suffer too, and 
picture their homes being stricken and what they are 
enduring as well as your own countrymen ? " and as I 
listened my resentment gave way, and I prayed for these 
people who were suffering as much as myself, if not more. 

It is in times of stress like this that the consolations 
of religion appeal most strongly to us. How often in 
the night, when we lie and think about all the bitter 
suffering in the world, might we not seek in spirit to 
grope our way through time and space, and by the power 
of our will make our presence felt by some lonely d3dng 
soldier, who might close his eyes in peace could he feel 
our helpful hands or hear our grateful whisper in his 
dying ears, " Thanks, dear brother, sleep well." We 
too might gain some comfort in the knowledge that the 
last moments of the dead are not spent in anguish and 
pain, for death is mostly far kinder than life and infinitely 
more merciful than man, and steeps the tired senses in a 
dream wherein all else is forgotten but the happy peaceful 
memories of childhood. 

We Catholics too can find great consolation in the 

E 



50 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

belief that those hours of pain which may have preceded 
the end will shorten their passage through Purgatory in 
the next life, and could they let us know, as they some- 
times do in dreams and visions, they would most certainly 
implore us not to grieve so much for them or doubt as 
to their well-being now, for our tears and pain are prob- 
ably for them the one alloy to their perfect peace in 
heaven. 

I had been in correspondence with Prince Lowenstein 
about my brother, who was first reported missing after the 
battle of Ypres. He was quartered at Comines, near the 
fighting line of that district, and the trouble and real 
sympathy he showed me in my anxiety impressed me 
in a way that few other things have done for a long time. 
He several times rode out specially to the surrounding 
district to make inquiries about him, and rode up to the 
dressing-stations and field-hospitals of the district, and 
also to the abandoned trenches and graveyards, in the 
hopes of getting a clue. And sometimes, when passing 
a wayside cross, he would get down from his horse and 
copy the name of the fallen officer, and send it to me in 
the hope it might bring some little consolation to a 
bereaved relation. 

At the beginning of May he came back on leave for 
a few days, and I went to see his wife and him at their 
apartment. His real and intense kindness and sympathy 
touched me very much — the way he tried to give me 
every detail about the search, and at the same time 
spare my feelings as to the hopelessness and sadness of 
the aspect of warfare in that particular part of the 
country. 

Berlin, May 1915. — May 8, 1915, will live vividly 
in my memory for the shock that we received by the 
sinking of the Lusitania. How can I find words to 
write about it ? And yet I cannot pass over the event 
that caused more sensation throughout the world than 



BERLIN, MAY 1915 51 

the greatest victory or the greatest defeat. " Sinking 
of the Lusitania by a German submarine " was the head- 
hne in our German paper that morning, without any 
details of importance. A great loss of life had been 
the just punishment for that liner that was carrying 
munitions to the enemy of Germany. Neutral America 
was providing these munitions (a breach of neutrality, 
said Germany), and what sacrifice could be too great a 
punishment for that ! 

The Germans themselves were amazed — oh yes ; but 
proud — proud of what one little submarine could do, of 
what power a few men in a little nutshell under the 
water could wield — ^what a wonderful method of warfare 
it was, and how soon England must give in if confronted 
with this power. At last the world would recognize the 
awfulness of the German navy, and see that Germany 
must become mistress of the seas, as she could prevent 
others from crossing the water in safety whenever she 
pleased. In one respect the Germans were right. The 
world does recognize the awfulness of that kind of war- 
fare, but not with admiration ! 

The Americans here in the hotel, and those of the 
Embassy staff, had always professed to be neutral. 
They had been cordial and friendly towards the Germans 
they met, had gone out together, had played tennis, and 
so forth. But a sudden change now took place. The 
Americans openly avoided the Germans, almost cutting 
their friends of the day before. Friendly intercourse 
was absolutely out of the question. Their rage and 
horror at the idea that Americans had been killed knew 
no bounds, and they gave vent to their views in un- 
guarded terms. One German turned to me and said, 
" You and other English ladies here have self-control, 
but these American ladies, once they are roused, do not 
care how or where they express their feelings." 

Berlin, May 1915. — I was rung up on the telephone 
by a Dr. Johansen, who said he would like to come and 



52 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

see me. We made an appointment for the next evening, 
when he told me he had come to thank me on behalf 
of some of the English prisoners for all I had been doing 
for them, and that he was the doctor appointed for the 
officers at Blankenburg, and so saw them nearly every day. 

He had become devoted to Colonel G , although 

he said, " I ought to hate him, as his regiment killed my 
only son at Mons ; but I love the man, in fact I love all 
the British officers." 

I asked if there was anything I could do for any of 
them, and he said no, he did not think so at present, 

and added : " Don't send Colonel G any cigars or 

cigarettes ; the poor man is overpowered by the number 
that are sent him, as there is no place to keep them and 
he can't smoke them all." I replied that I purposely 
had not sent any, and the only thing I could send him 
that I knew he would appreciate was the only thing he 
would not be allowed, and that was the Enghsh Times. 
" No," he said very decidedly, " that is absolutely against 
the rules ; but," and he looked at a pile of the Times 
lying on my table, " of course, if I happened to have 
some newspapers in my pocket, I might drop them as I 
went past his door, by accident," and he gave me a 
knowing look. I at once rolled them up and he stuffed 
them into his pocket, and as he went towards the door, 
he said, " My mother was English, but we don't say 
too much about that at present, do we ? " 

A few days later he offered to take my husband to 

see Colonel G and the other officers. We rang up 

the following morning to fix a day, and the answer to 
the telephone was, " The doctor died suddenly last 
night." It was a great shock to us — one more friend gone. 

To-day I went to tea with the Duchess of Croy. She 
is one of the many young American wives of the German 
nobility, and is the daughter of Mr. Leishman, who 
was at one time Ambassador in Berlin. She told me 
of an awful journey she had a short time ago when she 



BERLIN, MAY 1915 53 

was in their place in the country. She got a telegram 
from her husband to say he was being sent from the West 
to the East, and would be passing Cologne, and could 
she meet him there. Their place was some miles out of 
Cologne, and she had not much time to spare. She had 
to hire an old village taxi, their own motors having all 
been taken, and had to implore the man to drive as hard 
as ever he could. Just as they were nearing Cologne a 
tyre burst. She was in despair, and had to get out and 
kneel down in the middle of the road, and work her 
hardest to help the chauffeur to put it right, every minute 
thinking she was missing her husband. She was only 
twenty, and her baby was only three weeks old, so 
altogether she was not very fit for being left in such a 
phght. However, they got it mended and dashed on. 
Then, on reaching the station, there were more difficulties 
in the form of German red tape. They flatly refused to 
let her on to the station without a pass. As a brilliant 
idea, she said she had an important telegram for her 
husband from the War Office, and they then said they 
must see the telegram. Her patience nearly gave way 
at that, but she realized all would be lost if she did not 
carry it through, so she said, " How dare you insult 
me by asking me to show you a private communication 
from the War Office ; I shall report you for this." It 
acted like magic, and they fell back and let her through, 
just in time to see her husband's train come in. 

A young officer, just home on leave for a few days in 
Berlin, said to me to-day that he was longing to get back 
to the front so as to have a little peace and quiet, where, 
as he said, there is not so much venomous hatred and 
vindictiveness against the enemy, and no incessant talk 
of cruelties, reprisals, etc. He added : " Out there we all 
do our duty, the enemy as well as ourselves ; we obey 
the orders, and do what we are told, and have no time 
to think or feel all this horrible hatred and revenge." 



54 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Some one just returned from Neuve Chapelle says 
that the battle there was one of the most ghastly of the 
whole year. The Germans had hidden a machine-gun 
in practically every window and every door of the 
cottages, and when the English marched through they 
were just mown down. Their losses (Germans) during 
that fight were appalhng — 18,000, and the British were 
12,000. The English attacked sixty times in three days, 
throwing all their strength apparently on that one spot 
for the moment. 

Prince Miinster said he witnessed a sad sight the other 
day. A man in the trenches had to watch his son dying 
by inches a few hundred yards away from him (between 
the trenches) and was powerless to help or reach him. 
He was his only son, and he saw him fall wounded and 
then die slowly, with many other wounded, lying there 
in the open ground. 

And I have just been told of another sad sight from 
the East Front. The Germans went forward to clear a 
captured Russian trench, and found in it a fine-looking 
Russian officer sitting upright, motionless, gazing at a 
photo of a most beautiful woman and two little children. 
He was stone dead. 

Berlin, June 15, 1915. — It is now a month since the 
Lusitania was torpedoed. We have read all the comments 
in the EngUsh and American papers, and I have studied 
the attitude of the people here towards that horrible 
deed. Even those who admire it from the scientific 
point of view seem in their inmost hearts ashamed of it, 
and do not care to defend it — but rather on the ground 
that it was pohtically a mistake. I beheve the Kaiser 
thoroughly disapproved of it, and I have seen a letter 
written by one of the royal princesses (not of German 
birth) in which it was condemned as piratical and 
barbarous. 

I suppose the question whether there really was 
ammunition on board the Lusitania will never be satis- 



BERLIN, JUNE 1915 55 

factorily settled, as the secret must remain in the hands 
of a few men who for very good reasons will certainly 
keep it to themselves. 

Berlin, June 10, 1915. — Amongst the numerous 
afflictions visited upon us by the war, the " spy-fever " 
is one of the worst. It has indeed reached such a height 
that it seems as if every second person at least is on the 
verge of lunacy, and that this venomous attitude towards 
your neighbour is a new form of war-pestilence. People 
are proud of the way in which modem science has coped 
with infectious ailments, but no science seems able to 
suppress this newest form of mental disease, to which 
womankind seems particularly addicted. The seemingly 
most righteous member of our sex will, without a qualm 
of conscience, inform on her most innocent neighbour, 
apparently to satisfy some innate instinct for playing 
the detective, or for making herself important. I could 
relate dozens of instances of malicious and misleading 
informers within my own knowledge. It is impossible 
that all the people who have been persecuted as such 
are in reality spies. From what I hear, the " spy " 
epidemic seems to be international, and weak-minded 
females in England and France have fallen a prey to the 
same affliction. 

Has the word " spy " lost its ancient disagreeable 
meaning ? It almost seems to be an honourable calling 
now, or it is at least if you are a member of the secret 
service, for you not only receive a very high salary in 
every country, but you are regarded as an upright and 
honourable gentleman, and a very useful member of 
society, whilst the private " spy " is looked upon as a 
criminal only worth shooting. 

A conversation with a neutral this afternoon has 
turned my thoughts this way. We were really discussing 
the different methods of the German and English secret 
service, and whilst listening to the details he gave me 
of the enormous sums which both countries had spent 



56 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

on it, I could not refrain from sajdng that they had 
neither of them been very effective, considering the utter 
ignorance and surprise expressed by both at the outbreak 
of the war. 

He admitted that it was not always easy to distinguish 
between spies, traitors, and secret service agents. The 
English of&cials, he said, were bombarded with anony- 
mous letters from charitable persons who felt bound to 
lay at least one victim at the feet of justice. This kind 
of information, which is always offered gratis at the time 
of any sensational crime, is of little or no value, and is 
generally the outcome of hysterical imagination. He 
told me that the much-abused English Intelligence 
Department had not been quite so fast asleep as the good 
lady-informers supposed, and that for three years before 
the war the names of all the German residents in England 
had been noted. Their correspondence had been system- 
atically opened and censored during that period, and 
within twenty-four hours of the declaration of war no 
less than twenty-five out of twenty-six recognized paid 
spies had been taken into custody. The twenty-sixth, 
who escaped through the over-zeal of one of the aforesaid 
females, was eventually captured, and before three 
months were over they had unearthed a whole nest of 
suspicious individuals, and interned them for the duration 
of the war. On questioning him as to the relative merits 
of the two countries, he judged the English secret service 
to be better than the German, as more men who had been 
touring in Germany, financed by the Government, got 
back to their own country in time. As to the morality 
of spying in general, I expressed my doubts about the 
ethics of men who go round accepting the hospitality of 
friends, all the time trying to elicit information which is 
meant to harm their country. He, however, took another 
view of the case, and expressed his admiration for men 
who risk their lives and stop at nothing to help their 
native land, without receiving any kudos. As an example 
he mentioned Baden-Powell, who, in his book published 



BERLIN, JUNE 1915 57 

after his visit to Germany in 1910-11, boasts how he 
accepted hospitahty at the Emperor's table, whilst in 
between he gained as much useful information as he could, 
from less exalted personages, by means of bribes. 

I remember myself a story which Count R told 

me in June 19 14. He complained that his whole pleasure 
in the Kiel regatta week had been spoilt for him by an 
English friend, whom he was entertaining, trying by every 
means in his power to gain knowledge of the depths 
and sounding of the Canal, during casual conversation 
with him and his friends. 

• ••••• 

A few days ago Gebhard and I and Gustav (G.'s 
brother) went to see the English prisoners working on the 
road near Lichterfelde. No one was supposed to know they 
were there, and no one was allowed to go and see them. 
However, Paul Miinster had given me a graphic descrip- 
tion of how, when he was out the other day with the other 
cadets, they suddenly came upon them, and their captain 
called out to know whether any among them could speak 
English. Paul Miinster at once came forward and was 
then told he might say a few words to them. 

He said the poor men were so pleased when he asked 
them about their homes and where they had come 
from, etc., and when he mentioned several places in 
England he knew well himself, they at once became most 
friendly. 

This, of course, fired me with the idea to go there. 
I knew it was impossible without an officer in uniform, 
and I asked one or two I knew if they would go ; but 
they all said it would not be allowed, and might be 
misconstrued, and all the usual reasons which were 
forthcoming when any interest in the Enghsh was shown. 
However, I knew my good-natured brother-in-law would 
do anything I asked, so we three salHed forth. 

It was dinner-time when we arrived, and they were 
all Ipng about in the heat of the blazing sun, in a sort of 
fenced-off waste of sand. They were a most unkempt 



58 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

lot, I must say ; but, poor men, it was not their fault. 
They were laughing and joking among themselves, and 
one of them was reading out what evidently was a very 
amusing story, judging by the peals of laughter that it 
caused. A very nice official came and spoke to us, and 
while he and my husband talked, I began very cautiously 
to make my way up to the wire railing, and then I said 
to them, " How are you ; is there anything I can do for 
you ? " I shall never forget the look on those poor 
men's faces when they heard these few words of genuine 
English ; they all crowded up to the wire fence, each 
wanting a word said to them. I had to be very careful, 
as I knew I might be stopped at any minute. They had 
nearly all been prisoners since last August or September, 
and seemed so weary of it. 

I asked which battles they had been in, and one man 
said to me, " I was wounded at Less Skates." My 
brother-in-law, who was standing near, said, " What 
does he mean ? " I said, " He says he was wounded 
at the battle of Le Cateau," and this really was the first 
time it dawned on me how different the descriptions 
and names of battles and everything must sound when 
spoken of in England — when I think of Less Skates and 
Wipers, for example. 

I could not tell them I was Enghsh, although I longed 
to, but I knew that would be quite fatal, so I went on 
making desultory conversation to them, my brother-in- 
law joining in at times, but they did not rise much to 
his conversation. They saw he was a German officer, 
and spoke broken English, so they were more cautious 
and suspicious, and kept their eyes fixed on me, with a 
smile on their faces, as much as to say, " We see you are 
a friend and that you are English." 

I asked if they got parcels from home. Some said 
sadly, " No," but one told me that he got them regularly 
every week. I asked what regiment he belonged to, 
and he replied " Royal Fusihers," which rejoiced me, 
because it was the regiment my mother had undertaken 



BERLIN, JUNE 1915 59 

to provide for, and her own hands may have packed 
them. 

My husband then came up, and as his Enghsh is perfect, 
and as he was only in the uniform of the Knights of 
Malta, they opened out to him at once. He asked them 
if they had any complaints, and whether they had all 
they wanted. They replied that they had plenty of 
food ; that they heard regularly from home ; and that 
they liked working on the roads as it helped to pass the 
time. 

So my husband said, " Well, that's all right. I am 
glad you are happy." But they replied, " We want to 
be in England, that's all we want. It is the only wish 
we have, to be once more back in good old England." 
And underlying every word they said one could read 
downright genuine home-sickness. The poor men said 
it with such feeling that it made a great impression on me. 

Then a sentinel called out in a very loud voice, " It 
is not allowed to talk to the prisoners." So we drew 
back instantly, but continued our conversation at each 
other in a way, I talking to the interpreter so that they 
could hear, and they talking to each other so that I could 
hear. 

One sentence I remember specially. A very rough- 
looking young soldier, who was lying in his shirt-sleeves 
on the sand eating his dinner, said to his neighbour in 
an audible voice that I could hear : "I wish the dickens 
she'd get them to send me a pair of boots ; how the deuce 
I am expected to work in these blessed things I don't 
know " (these blessed things being a sort of clog sandals). 

I looked at him and laughed and did my best to send 
him these boots, but never heard whether he got them 
or not. 

We then moved away, all the men smihng at me as I 
went. One very young sailor boy struck us so much, 
he looked so unutterably sad and ill, and he was the only 
one who stood up to attention and saluted when we left. 
I have tried since to find out his name, but have never 



6o AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

been able to. I longed to say some little words of comfort 
to the poor youth. 

We then went to a little wayside inn and had our 
lunch in the garden outside. The prisoners' dinner- 
time was now over and they were all back at work on 
the tram-line on the road. It was an historic sight I 
shall never forget, the surroundings so typically German, 
and these ultra-Enghsh men working in their shirt-sleeves 
all along the line, and whistling and talking to themselves 
quite obhvious of the rest of the world. I am glad to say 
they seemed on most jocose and famihar terms with all the 
foremen who were working with them. I gazed out on 
this scene and felt as if I were in some land of dreams. 

After our luncheon we went home by tram and had to 
pass along the hne where these men were working. Their 
delight at recognizing me again in the tram was really 
most touching ; they all looked up and waved their 
hands and called out " Good-bye " to me, and I felt I 
had left a few more unknown friends behind me, whom 
I shall probably never see or hear of again. 

Many months afterwards I heard from the English 
chaplain who visited them that they still talked of my 
visit, and they had managed to find out who I was and 
all about me, and they told him what a happiness it had 
been to have a little breath from the Old Country, as my 
visit had seemed to them. 

The Times has pubUshed some evidence extracted 
from Bavarian deserters, who vouched to have witnessed 
the shooting of Enghsh prisoners, whether wounded or 
not, under supervision of a Bavarian officer. I was in 
a great state about this and wrote to a friend of mine, 
a Bavarian officer. His reply is as follows : "I think 
the whole thing is perfect nonsense .... I expect the 
deserters were short of money, and made it by telling 
sensational stories, the Dutch reporters being most 
anxious for information of that sort. I know many 
instances of that kind ... a deserter is never a very 
trustworthy person." 



BERLIN, JUNE 1915 61' 

He also drew my attention to the fact that in a fight it 
is very difficult to say when the " action " has come to 
an end and when captivity begins. Very often a man, 
I suppose, may be ready enough to surrender and yet 
must be killed because the man attacking cannot stop 
to take him prisoner. A man saving a prisoner may be 
forfeiting his own life by being hit while doing it. So 
the Frenchman, of whom a friend told me, was killed by 
a man who would have liked to save him when he heard 
the words, " Ayez pitie de moi, j'ai une femme et six 
enfants." 

I sent the article out of the Times to Prince Lowenstein, 
who was at the Bavarian Headquarters at Comines. 
He answered that the " Deserters' story " had been 
thoroughly investigated, and that no such men existed 
at all as the two names given as the eye-witnesses, and 
that he and others with him considered it a Press fabrica- 
tion from beginning to end. The Bavarian Crown Prince 
expressed great astonishmeiit that any one should even 
think they ever killed prisoners. He said, we want 
prisoners who can talk and tell us something ; there 
would be no point in killing them. 

How easy it is to talk about atrocities, and how few 
people pause to weigh the full meaning of their words 
when adding their quota of horror to the tale. In Berlin, 
for many months after the beginning of the war, we 
heard nothing but tales of torture and barbarities inflicted 
by Belgian women and franc-tireurs on German soldiers. 
Then came stories of French franc-tireurs and the bad 
treatment of prisoners in French camps. These were 
outdone in horror by the wave of feehng against Russia, 
whose atrocities were said to exceed in cruelty all those 
perpetrated by the Belgians. Germany punished the 
Belgians ruthlessly, but dared not adopt such drastic 
measures with Russia, as too many Germans were in her 
power on whom she could wreak vengeance. 

Next came England — " Gott strafe England ! " The 



*62 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

hatred of England, English measures, EngUsh culture, 
is beyond description. Germany has never been able 
to record British atrocities that would stand the test of 
proof, nor even cases of unjust treatment of prisoners ; 
yet I am convinced that if a Belgian, a Frenchman, a 
Russian, and an Englishman were placed at the mercy 
of a German, he would kill the EngUshman first. Why 
is it ? I think they truly believe that England entered 
the war from greed of gain. 

The hatred has intensified of late. There has been 
a silly story going about of King George offering £i to 
any one who would bring him a German. The Bavarian 
Crown Prince, on reading this, is supposed to have rephed, 
" I think I had better offer the same sum to any one who 
does not bring me an Englishman." I don't suppose there 
is a word of truth in this, but it has encouraged the idea 
strongly that the Bavarians are urged to murder their 
prisoners, and may be responsible for several stories. 

It was reported some time ago in the papers that 
Prince Max of Hesse had been wounded, and since then 
I and many others have been trying every possible means 
to get definite news of him for his mother, who is dis- 
tracted with grief. He was the Emperor's nephew, aged 
i8, and now appears to have died of his wounds received 
in October 1914. He had been hving in England, and 
left friends and relations there to come and fight for his 
country, and to face these friends as enemies on the 
field. 

His mother, Princess Margaret of Hesse, was for three 
months without any definite news. The Emperor him- 
self wrote asking the Americans to find out about him, 
but without avail. At last, through the searching in- 
quiries of the Pope and the King of Spain, the tragic 
news of his death was announced. He had been carried 
into a monastery near Mont des Cats that was in the 
hands of the English that night ; he was a prisoner then, 
mortally wounded, and was attended to by two doctors, 



BERLIN, JUNE 1915 61, 

Dr. O'Brien Butler and Dr. Johnson. Dr. Johnson is 
now at Crefeld, a prisoner. 

Dr. O'Brien Butler spent the night with the Prince, 
who knew he was dying, and who gave Dr. O'Brien 
Butler a locket for his mother and his last dying message. 
Next day Dr. Johnson inquired of Dr. O'Brien Butler 
about the Prince's last moments. Dr. O'Brien Butler 
said he had received so sacred a message from the dying 
Prince for his mother that he felt he could confide it to 
no one else, but must tell the Princess himself. That day 
he was killed — so the poor mother, who is broken-hearted, 
will never know what her boy had meant for her to hear. 
It is a most tragic story. 

A friend has informed me that one of the nursing sisters 
in Boulogne told him that Prince Max is buried near the 
monastery, his body having been picked up by an old 
priest or monk, who intends to keep the burial-place a 
secret until he is paid for the damage done to his church ! 

Royal relations are not supposed to correspond with 
each other in belligerent countries in these sad times, 
but of course (like all of us) they feel for those in sorrow. 
Queen Mary sent a graceful message through the Crown 
Princess of Sweden, expressing her great sympathy with 
Princess Margaret, and returning the Prince's locket, 
which had been sent to the King, and which she had 
tied up with her own hands. 

Berlin, June 18, 1915. — I have been fearfully busy 
about the Reprisal Question, which is that, as it is said, 
Winston Churchill has ordered all submarine prisoners 
to be kept apart in England, and not to be allowed 
to associate with the other prisoners of war. Germany, 
on hearing this, needless to say, went in for reprisals, 
and ordered 39 English officers to be put into solitary 
confinement at once. They chose 39 out of the Guards 
Regiments and from among the best-known names among 
them. Princess Miinster, Princess Pless and I were told 
that, as we all had relations among the number chosen. 



64 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

we could write to England and state the case, and tell 
them that these 39 officers would be released when 
Winston Churchill rescinded his decision. We therefore 
drew up a statement together, and I being the only one 
at the moment in Berhn, it was decided that I should 
beard Mr. Gerard in his den, and get him to send it 
through to England to our most influential relations. 

I wrote it out in the form of a circular, as I knew 
the answer I should have got if I had asked him to post 
a letter. I went to the Embassy and asked to see the 
Ambassador, and was requested to wait a minute. We 
ladies were by now quite accustomed to being treated 
like ladies' maids seeking situations when we went to the 
Embassy to inquire for our missing relations ; however, 
this time I was not kept waiting long, and as I walked 
into the room I was greeted with the words, " I can't 
post any letters for England, if that's what you have 
come to ask me to do," I felt inclined to reply, " Wait 
till you are asked " ; however, I reahzed that it would 
not be a good beginning if I intended to get this document 
posted, so I only replied, " That is not what I want in 
the least " (being exactly the thing I had come for), but 
calling it a circular I knew would change the nature of 
the request ; so I showed him the list of names and the 
circular, and said that if he could see his way to sending 
them to my mother, she would do the rest. He was 
tremendously interested as he read it, but of course 
dared not say so in so many words, as it might have 
been misconstrued into " an unneutral act on the part of 
an ambassador." He simply said, " What is your mother's 
address ? " I gave it and withdrew, without asking any 
more questions. 

Of course we have never had the satisfaction of know- 
ing whether we did shorten the time of soUtary confine- 
ment for these officers or not, but we certainly managed 
to improve their treatment during their time there, as 
very shortly after I had a letter from my cousin, saying 
that they were now being allowed certain privileges, that 



KISSINGEN, JUNE 1915 65 

they were allowed to be together all day, and that the 
commander was quite a nice man, who tried to improve 
their position as far as he was permitted to do. 

Within ten days Princess Miinster had received an 
answer through a third person from one of the Cabinet 
Ministers, and I had received one from my mother sa5dng 
she had sent the matter to the fountain-head ; and also 
we heard that the American Consul in Cologne had been 
dispatched to report on and improve the condition of 
these officers. 

KissiNGEN, June 22, 1915. — We spent a night in 
Dresden on our way to Kissingen, and met there several 
Austrian relations who were staying in the same hotel 
(Continental) . 

Prince and Princess Lobkowitz came from Bohemia 
for one night on purpose to see us. They have their 
three sons out and in daily danger. Their views on all 
the usual subjects were varied. They considered the 
sinking of the Lusitania a ruthless and somewhat in- 
human event, but dare not air their views on this subject. 
They (unlike most Austrians) criticized their own General 
Staff, and were loud in praise of German organization 
and generalship. 

Staying with us also was Prince Lobkowitz's widowed 
sister (Gebhard's cousin) Princess Ratibor and her son 
Ernest, who is a young naval officer aged 23, and who is 
now on three days' leave from his submarine. Princess 
Ratibor has already lost her youngest son in the Car- 
pathians, and at this moment is in very deep grief about 
him ; she has also another son in an exposed position on 
the East front, and her eldest son is lost in Canada ; at 
least he was there when war broke out, and she had heard 
nothing about him since. 

Another interesting visitor at this hotel is von Miigge 
— of Emden fame ; he is just on his way home after all 
his adventures, and is treated like a hero wherever he 
goes. There is a crowd outside the hotel always to watch 

F 



66 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

him go in and out, and he is followed everywhere in the 
streets, and has continual bouquets of flowers presented 
to him. M. Hoyos and C. Lobkowitz and I have just 
been watching his departure for the station. 

He seems a smart, simple, good-looking youth, and is 
most bashful at the excitement he creates. He was quite 
overpowered by the admiring crowd that followed him 
to the station just now, and which inundated him with 
magnificent flowers and much cheering ; but certainly, 
if he was embarrassed by it, his poor old mother who 
was with him fully appreciated it all, as I have never 
seen such an expression of perfect happiness and pride as 
I did on that poor woman's face as she walked with him 
and helped him to carry the numerous bouquets of flowers 
with which he was laden. He is indeed a hero, and I 
know he is looked upon as such by people of all countries. 

His story is as follows : 

He was conducting a landing party of about 60 men 
on to one of the Pacific islands, when the Emden and its 
captain and the rest of the crew were captured by the 
English. So von Miigge and his 60 men were left stranded. 
They eventually succeeded in capturing a sailing vessel, 
put some of their quick-firing guns from the Emden on 
it, and sailed across the Indian Ocean to Bombay, and 
there, it is said, they held up a British steamer. They 
later on landed in a Red Sea port south of Aden, worked 
their way across the Arabian desert, and had to fight 
several tribes, during which they lost some of their men, 
and eventually reached Damascus, where they took train 
for Constantinople, from whence they eventually reached 
home after many thrilHng adventures. 

But to return to the Ratibors, with whom we spent our 
time whilst at Dresden. Ernest, the naval Ueutenant, told 
me much interesting news about his life in a submarine. 
Of course, I asked him whether he was the one who had 
wrecked the Lusitania. He said he was not, though he 
knew who had done it, but no one is allowed to say. 



KISSINGEN, JUNE 1915 67 

He began to tell me all sorts of wonderful things he 
had seen in the English illustrated papers, London News, 
Graphic, etc., so I asked him, " How do you come to be 
so well informed as to the pictures in EngUsh news- 
papers ? " and he replied, " Oh, EngHsh fishermen give 
them to us sometimes when we have to capture their 
boats." 

He told me of some quite amusing conversations he 
had had with some old fishermen. On one occasion, when 
they had ordered these men to clear off everything and 
take away anything they liked off their fishing trawler 
before they sank it, the men were all so frightened that 
they said — no, they wanted nothing, they would come 
away just as they were ; but when they were in their 
boat and got into conversation with these young sub- 
marine officers, and saw that they were not so alarming 
as they had at first thought, one old sailor came up to 
Ernest and said, " May I just go back for one thing ? " 
and on being given permission they all waited for him, 
and wondered what this one treasure was going to be 
that the poor old man could not leave behind. In a few 
minutes he reappeared carrying a bottle of whisky under 
his arm, and as he passed Prince Ratibor he said, " It 
did seem a pity to leave that behind ! " 

I continued to draw this youth out on the subject of 
his submarine experiences all the time we were together, 
because it interested me more than anything else, as his 
life all these last months had consisted in prowling round 
Scotland under water. 

He, to tease me, said on our morning of departure : 
" Aren't you jealous of me ? I go to Scotland every 
week. I will pick you a flower there, and if you hke to 
give me a letter for your sister, I will pin it on a Scotch 
cliff next time I touch it." I rephed, laughing, " Don't 
you boast quite so much. You will touch Scotland once 
too often, if you don't take care ! " 

" Well," said he, " anyhow, there are only two things 
that can happen to us submarine officers ; there are no 



68 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

half measures about our fate as about others. We either 
go to the bottom like a stone and are drowned instantly, 
or else we come back victorious." I saw such a sad look 
come over his mother's face as the laughing boy said 
this, and as he was leaving that day to rejoin his sub- 
marine, I tried to answer in a more hopeful tone than I 
really felt, and said, " No ; I feel you are just the sort 
who would bob up hke a cork when every one else is 
drowning." 

How little I knew that within a month of my making 
that remark the very thing would have happened. In 
the beginning of August his mother received an official 
notice from the Admiralty that the U27 had been sunk 
off the coast of Scotland, and that Prince Ernest Ratibor 
and three others were all that had been saved of the 
crew of 45. We heard afterwards he was picked up out 
of the water just as he was sinking and in an utter state 
of exhaustion. He was taken to Edinburgh Castle, where 
he was a prisoner for some days, and where he was very 
miserable and ill ; he was then moved to Duffried Castle, ' 
North Wales, where he is happy and very well cared for, 
and where my family have now undertaken to look after 
him and provide him with all the comforts that are 
permitted. 



KissiNGEN, June 26, 1915. — We arrived at Kissingen 
on June 20. It is a beautifully peaceful spot, but as 
there is no peace to be had anywhere, what difference 
does it really make whether the surroundings are pretty 
or not ? In a place like this one misses the foreigner 
more than anywhere else, and the shopkeepers make no 
secret of how they loved and miss the English. The 
Russians, perhaps, were not so much loved, but were 
equally indispensable to the finances of the place. Five 
thousand Russians left last year when war was declared ; 
one, when bidding adieu to his car-driver, who was 



KISSINGEN, JUNE 1915 69 

bemoaning the parting, replied tactfully and consolingly : 
" Ah yes, you will see us again. This time next year 
we shall be back again in Kissingen playing football with 
the Germans' heads in the streets ! " 

There were not many people we knew doing the cure 
there. A few days after I arrived Countess Henckel and 
her sister Princess Lowenstein came, and I spent most 
of my time with them ; but we did a very half-hearted 
cure, and agreed that in times like these cures begin and 
end in the post office. 

Baroness S and I became friends, and used to drive 

and walk together every day. She told me of a mirage 
she had seen which interested me enormously. It was 
in the beginning of July 19 14, when she and a number of 
friends were on a private yacht on their way to Kiel for 
the regatta week. One evening the captain called them 
all to the side of the ship and pointed out a mirage, and 
she said they all stood transfixed with the beauty of it. 
In the distance, all along the water, they saw all sorts 
of beautiful hazy scenes and coloured mists of every 
describable hue and shape floating along the top of 
the water and gradually up into the sky, where they 
disappeared, " A mirage is always the sign there is a 
great war coming," said the captain, " and those 
coloured shapeless mists are said to be the souls of the 
fallen going up to heaven." They were struck with 
the beauty of the idea, but laughed at the suggestion 
of war. They then went on to Kiel, where they began 
to enter into all the gaiety of the Kiel week, when 
the telegram arrived announcing the murder of the 
Archduke and his wife. So perhaps the mirage had 
its meaning after aU. 

This is by no means the only portent which has come 
to my ears. A lady who has been staying in Westphaha 
told me that she had made acquaintance with one of the 
villagers, a sickly delicate man, who had spent his hfe 
in studying Nature, and had made a fine collection of all 
the different kinds of birds to be found in that part of 



JO AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

the world. He had shown her proudly all these specimens 
prepared by his own hands, the last of which was a small 
bird which she had never seen before. 

" You won't know this bird, lady, for I never saw it 
before in my life, but the spring of last year, before the 
war, suddenly whole flocks of strange birds appeared here 
I managed to catch this one, and looking in my books I 
found out what it was, and that these birds hardly ever 
appear in Germany. They come from the north, and 
only in great flocks, before a war." 

I spoke to Dr. M , who is a great authority on 

birds, and he too had noticed the Silk-tails or Chatterers 
here for the first time. He said there had always been 
an old tradition existing amongst the people that the 
Silk-tails were a foreboding of war. 

Berlin, July 12, 1915. — I left Kissingen on the 9th 
without much regret, except for saying good-bye to the 
Henckels, who had been true and good friends to me 
there. The day before I left I went on a pilgrimage of 
discovery, to see the Way of the Cross that I was told 
was on one of the mountains. It began at the bottom 
of one of the lower mountains, and the stone stations lay 
about 100 yards apart all the way up the winding moun- 
tain path. It was so picturesque. 

As I wended my way upwards I now and again came 
upon a httle cross hidden in the grass, and on reading 
it found that they were graves of soldiers who had fallen 
there in the year '66 during the battle of Kissingen. 
" Here lie two brave Bavarians and three Prussian 
soldiers," etc., etc. These were enemies then ; and now, 
not long after, are fighting as friends. 

On reaching the summit of the hill I sat down on a 
little rustic seat below the Calvary, and hidden in the 
grass by my side was another Uttle solitary grave and 
wooden cross with the inscription " Here lies a brave 
but unknown hero, who died fighting," and then vividly 
before my eyes came the picture of that other battlefield 



BERLIN, JULY-AUGUST 1915 71 

in Flanders, and what that will be like in years to come ; 
how many such crosses of unknown heroes will he there 
hidden in the grass, and what strangers will pass them 
by, and what impression it will make on them ! 

Berlin, August i, 1915. — Another month has passed 
away, and we seem no nearer Peace than we were at the 
beginning, except that in the papers to-day they say that 
England now realizes that Russia is useless for offensive 
purposes, and that the Pope has written an Address to 
all the belligerent Powers appealing to their chivalry ; 
and as up till now he has always said he would not make 
a move until the right moment presented itself, this 
gives some little hope that behind the scenes some one 
has made a move. 

The American Note crisis is still the great subject of 
discussion, and in yesterday's paper the heading was 
" Renewal of Submarine Warfare," which seems to mean 
that Germany is snapping her fingers at America. 

A new light was put to me on the subject yesterday 
by a German officer, who told me that really it was Eng- 
land's interest to keep America from going to war with 
Germany, as directly she did so she would probably 
have to fight Japan, and therefore would have to keep 
all her ammunition, supplies, ships, etc., for herself, and 
could no longer assist England to the extent she had 
been doing. 

We had a very interesting talk with a Lieut. Pauley, 
a wounded German officer here, who came to dine with 
us. He was one of the exchanged prisoners returned 
from England, so I pumped him with questions, and he 
spoke most enthusiastically of the kind treatment he had 
received whilst in hospital in England. 

WiLDBAD, Thursday, August 5, 1915. — It is said that 
the outer forts near Warsaw have been taken and 
that at one spot the Russian army is nearly surrounded. 



72 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

The Russians have been obliged to send reinforcements 
from their Southern army, thus leaving a weak spot for 
the Austrians to try to break through. 

The Germans have taken Mitau, a town in East 
Prussia. 

On the West there is silence, except it is said the Eng- 
lish took a few houses and a trench near Hooge, but 
these are believed to have been retaken, and many dead 
were found in the trench, and some prisoners taken. 

G has gone for a long walk up into the mountains 

with a friend, so I have been spending my day typing 
letters about the missing. 

At three o'clock suddenly all the bells in the town began 
to ring, the band struck up the usual refrain of " Deutsch- 
land," the hall porter appeared on the roof to put up the 
Wiirtemburg flag, and all the people suddenly burst 
forth singing the national anthem ; so I very soon 
reahzed that something unexpected had happened, and 
am told that Warsaw has fallen. It is great news, as it 
was not expected to fall for another ten days. 

I try to enter into the rejoicings, but inwardly my 
heart is heavy, and my thoughts flew quickly and 
selfishly, I suppose, to the question. How will it affect 
England ? I reahze only too quickly that it means that 
thousands of German troops will soon be released to go 
to the Western Front, and will swell the forces trying to 
break their way through to Calais. 

Dresden, September i, 1915. — More German victories 
in Russia. Can there be any more forts to fall, any more 
Russians left to be captured, and more big guns and 
ammunition to be taken ? Judging by the figures in 
the papers there cannot be many. But a few millions 
more or less in the Russian army does not seem to make 
the slightest impression on it. I read to-day some of 
the official statistics from a Russian source, in which it 
says that the losses in the Russian army since the begin- 
ning have been five and a half millions. In the same 



GLASERSDORF, SEPTEMBER 1915 n 

paragraph they add that they have just raised a new army 
of a million men, and although they admit their present 
reverses they seem in no way discouraged by them. 

A few days ago I went to the Opera with the Landgraf 
of Hesse and Baron and Baroness Schenk and her sister. 
The Landgraf, who is blind, is connected by marriage 
with the Emperor, and with the Queen of Greece and 
Princess Margaret of Hesse. He feels the war and the 
estrangement with England and his Enghsh relations 
terribly, as he had been accustomed to spend six months 
every year in England, part of the time in London and 
part at Eastbourne, where the Queen of Greece and her 
sister also were. They were actually there when war 
broke out, and had to hurry off home, like so many other 
Royalties. 

Glasersdorf, September 11, 1915. — From Dresden 
we came on to Glasersdorf, Count Ballestrem's castle in 
Silesia, a beautiful place, so quiet and peaceful, except 
that one is reminded of the war at every turn by the 
absence of men servants, of the master of the house, of 
motor-cars, and by the family being in mourning for the 
brother who was killed in June. 

As I sit at my window I can watch the prisoners 
working on the farm. They have twenty-four French- 
men and one Russian as farm labourers. The Frenchmen 
look so funny working away in their bright red trousers ; 
it seems cruel to have sent them to the front in such a 
conspicuous get-up. 

News has come this evening that the German army 
are now only 100 miles from Petersburg, It is wonderful 
certainly, as they still maintain they do not intend to go 
there. What then is their object in this speedy advance ? 

Lord Kitchener in his opening speech in the House, 
which is reprinted in the German papers to-day, sounds 
confident and hopeful. As to the Russian retreat he 



74 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

takes the line that the German advance into Russia is 
not really so fine or rapid as people think, that they are 
now only advancing two miles a day instead of five 
miles, as they did at first. Of course, those who read 
this speech here say, " Sour grapes ! Doesn't he wish he 
could advance two yards on German territory ! " 

EcKERSDORF, September 19 15. — We are still on the 
move, and are now staying for a few days with Count 
and Countess Magnis, and a whole houseful of children. 
There are 18 in all, including the visiting cousins. 

The chief subject of discussion is the feeling between 
Austria and Germany. Princess Starhemberg, who is 
here, is Austrian, and is always ready with her bristles 
out in defence of everything Austrian ; and on the other 
hand the Germans of the party take credit for all the 
victories without admitting that they had any assistance 
whatever from Austria. One cannot help being sUghtly 
amused to notice how the point of the whole war is 
forgotten in the greater interest of internal jealousies. 
I asked Princess Starhemberg one day whether there was 
much hatred against England in Austria. " Well, when 
we have time to, yes, we do hate them ; but we are so 
busy hating Italy and criticizing Germany that we don't 
think of much else at present." 

EcKERSDORF, September 24, 1915. — ^We went to lunch 
with Prince and Princess Radolin in Breslau, and there 
indeed we found a different spirit and different views 
from any we had met for a long time in Germany. No- 
thing but downright hate and abuse of Germany and the 
German authorities, and, being people with a grievance, 
their bitterness was all the greater. It is, of course, 
difficult to form an opinion, but one could not help feeling 
pity for them in their treatment. 

Prince Radolin had been Ambassador at Paris, had 
been one of the favourites at the Court in Berlin, and was 
also on intimate terms with the late Empress Frederick 
and with Queen Victoria ; but since then, evidently 



ECKERSDORF, SEPTEMBER 1915 75 

owing to Court jealousies and intrigues, his and his wife's 
reputation had been gradually nibbled at and under- 
mined. Besides the discourteous way in which he had 
been turned out of his post as Ambassador, he and she 
had both, at various times, received small insults from 
various Royalties and officially from the German Court. 
Therefore they were ready to air their grievances on the 
smallest provocation. 

A German regiment and staff were billeted on them, 
the head of which was General Bernhardi, now a well- 
known General. He was one day abusing the French to 
a quite unnecessary degree. Princess Radolin burst out 
into defence of them. He turned to her and said, 
" Madame, you seem to have some French sympathies " ; 
at which she, most indiscreetly, flew into a passion and 
said, " Well, of course I have French sympathies. My 
mother was French, and as I was ambassadress in Paris 
for so many years I have many good friends there." 
He did not say much in reply, but reported her to head- 
quarters, and from that moment all sorts of petty 
tyrannies and underhand watching began. One day 
they found the telephone room in their own castle, where 
they were then living, locked, and when she asked the 
reason, a young of&cer answered her in a most insulting 
manner, telling her that she had been suspected of 
tampering with the telephone, and of having given 
warning to some Poles. Imagine her indignation ! 

Her letters were also being privately opened, and in 
consequence of an indiscreet reference to miUtary matters 
she was put under police supervision. She was not 
allowed to receive or write a single letter, even to her 
husband, without its being read, nor was she allowed to 
leave Breslau without special permission ; and she was 
even asked to return all her orders and decorations 
received during the term of her husband's office. This 
is such an unprecedented insult or disgrace that no 
German would ever get over it. (The decorations have 
since been returned to her.) 



76 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Prince Radolin up to then had tried to keep a dignified 
silence, but at this last insult to his wife he turned, as 
only a deeply wounded man can turn, and became even 
more bitter than his wife. It seems so sad for an old 
man of 70, who has spent his hfe working for his country, 
to think that the last few years should be spent thus ! 

EcKERSDORF, September 28, 1915. — There is a feeling 
of depression about every one to-day, and of wonder at 
the silence from the Western Front. Has there been an 
offensive ? Could there have been a reverse ? A sudden 
silence like this generally means that something is not 
going as it was expected to. 

Many things have made us begin to wonder. First, 
in the official telegram of yesterday it was said that the 
Germans had been obliged to evacuate two front trenches 
after hard fighting against the Enghsh, and that there 
were fearful losses on both sides. To admit this in an 
official telegram means that there must have been a 
decided reverse, as small defeats are unmentioned and 
ignored. 

To add to this, several men in the village, who had 
returned on short leave, were hastily summoned back to 
the West immediately. Then a letter from a doctor to a 
friend in the village says that things are not going at all 
well in the West, and finally a telegram has just been 
received from Count Franz Magnis, brother to our host, 
saying, " Safe and well." As he never telegraphs, and 
as he and his regiment have not been near the fighting 
fine for ten months, this causes much consternation, as 
they know it means that his regiment has suddenly been 
called into action. 

EcKERSDORF, October 2, 1915. — Our presentiment was 
right then ; there was a great battle going on on the 28th, 
and the Allies were nearer breaking through in the West 
than they have ever yet been, and are now occupying the 
third row of German trenches. 

They seem to have made one enormous offensive the 



ECKERSDORF, OCTOBER 1915 -j^ 

whole way along the line. There was incessant drum 
firing (120 a minute) for 60 hours continuously from 
the French and English lines, and the noise alone sent 
many out of their minds. Then they used poisonous 
gases, which the Germans were not prepared for, and had 
therefore not got their masks ready, and the losses in 
consequence from this alone were enormous. 

The Germans really were taken by surprise this time. 
I think they had for so long looked upon the Enghsh and 
French talk of a big offensive as nothing more than a 
threat, that they had begun to think it would never really 
come off. But it did, and on so gigantic a scale as to 
surprise even the Germans. 

It is said the French had 25 army corps, the English 
23, and Germany 23 engaged at the front. It is also 
said here that the Commander of the 8th German Army 
Corps made some mistake which occasioned a terrible 
loss of hfe, and he has been removed from his command 
in consequence, and that there had been a fearful row 
between him and Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, who had 
sent hastily for reinforcements, but there were none ready 
to send him. 

One colonel, who has just returned here since, says his 
regiment alone lost 70 per cent in a few hours, and the 
few stragglers returning wounded, caked with blood and 
mud, were a most pitiable sight to see. The losses on 
the German side were 20,000 prisoners and 40,000 dead 
and wounded. The names are only just beginning to 
come out, and the suspense in consequence is terrible to 
witness. Germany is still confident of success, but their 
anxiety everywhere is beginning to be felt, although they 
will not put it into words. 

In a quiet way the shortness of supplies is beginning 
to show. The price of milk was increased on October i, 
and it is said that soon very httle butter will be allowed 
to be used. It seems a funny thing to have run short, 
before bread, for instance, but it is said that milk will be 



yd> AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

scarce ; firstly, because too many calves were killed in 
the spring, and also because the cows could not be fed 
properly. 

Another thing that they are getting anxious about, 
although they would not own it if you asked them, is 
material for making ammunition. A circular has been 
sent round to every house in Silesia and in Austria, and 
I think here, ordering an inventory to be made of all 
copper, brass, etc., that they have in chandehers and on 
roofs and everywhere. It is pathetic to see the house- 
holders making lists of their household gods, wondering 
sadly when the moment will come when they receive the 
order to tear them down and have them melted into 
ammunition. 



Berlin, October 1915. — At dinner last night we met a 
Mexican minister who had been to Paris, Brussels, and 
other places, and who told us that he did not at all think 
the Balkan question at an end ; that England would 
leave no stone unturned to get Greece and Roumania, 
and that he did not consider the neutrality of Greece by 
any means so safely settled as the Germans do. 

He did not agree with the German view either, that 
the war will be decided with the Balkan campaign. He 
said that England and France were so strong in the West, 
and had made such tremendous preparations, that they 
meant to sit there till doomsday rather than give in, 
whatever Germany might do elsewhere. 

He then talked of the terrible verdict that had been 
passed on the three spies in Brussels. He told me that 
Brussels was like a smouldering furnace, and that this 
act of cruelty has excited people almost as much as the 
Lusitania. 

A few days ago I went to tea with the wife of Prince 
Christian of Hesse, whose mother had just got back from 
America. She, Mrs. Rogers, had remained some hours 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1915 79 

at Kirkwall on the way, where the ship was held up by 
the British. So she had much to tell us of all the examina- 
tion of papers and questions they had to undergo before 
they were allowed to continue their passage. 

Her daughter also showed us a very interesting snap- 
shot photo her husband (a naval lieutenant) had taken 
at Zeebrugge, of a Zeppelin being fired at by three EngUsh 
Dreadnoughts, and the photo showed it just falUng into 
the sea, broken and ruined. He himself had an appoint- 
ment on the coast there, and he said that particular spot 
was bombarded by English ships almost daily, and they 
do much harm. 

As to the actual war news, it is difficult to say any- 
thing the last few days. All the talk is now whether 
Greece is going to be drawn in, and also Roumania, 

Bulgaria has evidently quite decided to throw in her 
lot with Germany and Austria, and this seems to cut the 
Allies off from using Roumania, even if she did decide 
to go with them, unless Greece is persuaded to change 
her intention of keeping firmly neutral. For the last few 
days she seems quite bent on keeping out of it. Wise 
country ! 

Berlin, October 11, 1915. — ^There is once more one of 
the usual rumours of peace by Christmas ; but this time, 
they say, with more reason. I wonder whether one can 
allow oneself to begin to have a gleam of hope. It is 
based on the fact that the English are withdrawing their 
troops from the Dardanelles, and had attempted a land- 
ing at Salonika. But as, so far, the Greeks have shown 
most decidedly that they do not intend allowing that, it 
looks as if there is nothing left for the EngUsh to do. If 
they cannot get to Nisch, as the railway has been destroyed 
there, they are cut off. 

Perhaps they wiU bring aU their troops to the West 
Front, and what appalUng loss of life ti.ere will once 
more be there if they do. I beheve, if they and the French 



8o AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

went on long enough, they could break through, but the 
loss of life would be terrific. 

One knows that when the Peace negotiations begin, 
one scratch of the pen will settle those few yards of 
territory more decidedly, and with much less suffering, 
than all this fighting can do. So why not do it that way 
now ? The heart for victory is taken out of every one 
on all sides. 

The losses the last ten days at Loos must have been 
stupendous on both sides, and bits of information about 
it begin to come in. An officer told us last night that 
one regiment had had every single officer in it killed 
during the one day's fight, and that the regiment in 
front of them had been absolutely wiped out, and their 
dead bodies had filled a trench, so that the incoming 
regiment had to fight standing on these dead bodies the 
whole of one day. 

Dr. Ohnesorg, the American Embassy doctor, said he 
had yesterday visited some wounded at Bayreuth. Among 
them were three wounded Englishmen, one belonging to 
the Black Watch, one to the East Surrey, and one to the 
Royal Engineers, and the description they gave of these 
days' fighting at Loos was appalhng. One of them said 
his regiment had had to follow a Kent regiment, which 
had been completely mown down, not one single man of 
it left standing. Another of them said he had lain for 
three nights and days outside a trench, where he fell 
when wounded. Shortly after he had received his wound, 
a German doctor had crawled out to him and bandaged 
him up, and from that moment he had lain under in- 
cessant artillery fire, and the English troops and Germans 
had swayed backwards and forwards over near where he 
lay, the ground changing hands four times during those 
three days as the waves of victory varied. He had a 
haunted, anxious look in his eyes, they said, which made 
one sad to see ; but otherwise he was comfortable and 
well cared for, and was in a large ward with French and 
coloured wounded prisoners, all from those recent fights. 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1915 81 

Berlin, October 14, 1915. — I must note down two 
interesting stories I have been told to-day, of two German 
officer prisoners of war just returned. The one officer 
arrived a day or two ago with the latest batch of wounded, 
who have been passed by the doctors as no longer any 
use for military service, having proved to be deaf, dumb, 
and blind from shock. On arriving here he very soon 
began to talk, and said that he had faked being deaf, 
dumb, and blind for seven months continuously, and that 
no one had detected he was shamming. 

The other story was of a naval officer, also just arrived 
back, who had been one of those who jumped overboard 
from the Dresden when she was sunk by the British. 
He had been picked up by a Swedish vessel, where he 
passed himself off as an English sailor, and was taken by 
them to Sweden and then on to England, where he passed 
himself off as a Swede, and was employed as a common 
dockyard hand in the London docks for four months. 
He then returned to Sweden, and from there got back to 
Germany, and is now once more estabhshed in his position 
as a German naval lieutenant. 

Berlin, October 23, 1915. — At the beginning of the 
week we dined at Excellency Solf's (the Colonial Minister), 
where we, as usual, met a great many interesting people. 
Baron Jagow, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, took me 
in to dinner, and as he is personally acquainted with many 
well-known Englishmen, we soon found that we had 
mutual acquaintances. 

He said that he had heard a rumour of the resignation 
of Sir Edward Grey, and then went on to tell me that in 
his opinion Sir Edward is innocent of much that he is 
accused of. He considers that the " villain of the piece " 
is Sir Arthur Nicholson, but that he is cute enough to 
keep behind the scenes. Suddenly, in the middle of the 
dinner, he turned to me, remarking : " But is there 
nobody who will shoot Lord Northcliffe ? He is his own 
country's worst enemy, as well as ours. And he is more 

G 



82 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

answerable for all this bloodshed and carnage than any 
other single individual throughout the world." 

After dinner my husband had an interesting conversa- 
tion with Helfferich, the Finance Minister, who was the 
hero of the evening, as all were comphmenting him on 
the success of the second war-loan. He told my husband 
that he could not help being amused at seeing himself 
caricatured in the Enghsh papers as " Helfferich the pick- 
pocket," and of having been accused of docking the 
salaries of the poor. 

At first sight this may seem to have been the case, 
and probably refers to the different Sparkassen that con- 
tributed their deposits to the war-loan. It is Germany's 
system to use money that she must pay back to herself, 
so to say. Of course the poor people get 5 per cent for 
the war-loan money, whereas " Sparkasse " deposits only 
pay 3 per cent, and the Government is naturally security 
enough from their point of view. 

But the chief topic of conversation throughout the 
evening was the diplomatic success over the Balkan 
question, and every one was congratulating Herr v. Jagow 
on the clever way he and his colleagues had " pulled it off." 
And even I personally could not help feeling pleased that 
they were coming in for a Uttle praise at last, as the poor 
Foreign Office has really had nothing but " kicks " for 
such a long time past. 

But even whilst hstening to all the laudatory remarks, 
I could not help thinking of a conversation I had heard 
only that afternoon in a military circle : " Yes, we 
can let the Foreign Office enjoy this triumph for once, 
but we know nothing succeeds like success, and that 
it is in reality our great military achievements that 
have influenced Bulgaria's choice, and (maybe) will 
influence still more important countries before we have 
done ! " 

After dinner, conversation was about the copper collec- 
tion. One lady said she had sent all the copper she had, 
and was sorry to have to part with her lovely copper 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1915 83 

kettle. Another said hers had been sent back as not 
wanted at present. 

I ventured to suggest that the scarcity of copper 
might bring about an earher end to the war. Cries of 
indignation arose. Germany's organization required this 
collection of copper, just as the so-called " Brotkarten " 
(bread tickets) were issued to control the amount of bread 
consumed. They only wanted to see how much copper 
they could lay hands on, and had so much already from 
kettles, pots, pans, etc., that the supply would last them 
three years. Even the telephone wires have been 
reckoned on if it should be necessary ! 

My heart whispered that this must be " bluff." It is 
an interesting sight, though, to see cartloads of old pots 
and kettles and candlesticks, door-handles, chandeliers, 
etc., being driven along the street, and a poor woman 
or schoolboy carrying a copper kettle or brass lamp to 
the collecting offices to be weighed and paid for. For 
the Government pay well, and many people are tempted 
to be quick about getting rid of old copper for a good 
price. I heard a man the other day say that if he 
could get 100 tons of copper to sell, he would be a rich 
man for life ! 

Then we talked of the terrors of submarine warfare. 
One officer present described how his submarine had been 
caught in one of the English net traps. There he and 
the crew had to remain for hours under water, like rats 
in a trap ; no possibility of escape, and a death of starva- 
tion. They eventually managed to break through, but 
many don't. He said they could live for seven hours 
below the sea before djdng of suffocation, and 
shuddered, poor man, even then as he spoke, at his 
recollections. 

The same evening, my brother-in-law, Gustav, dined 
with us, on his way back from Warsaw. And we made 
him tell us about his life there. 

He said that it was very little different from here, 



84 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

there being hotels as luxurious as the " Esplanade," 
with music every evening, and that it is only outside the 
town that one realizes what the Russians have done. 
They have killed all the animals and removed everything 
out of the houses, even down to the brass handles on the 
doors ; everything that might be of any possible use to 
the Germans. On my asking him, " How about the 
inhabitants — can you go about in the streets without 
being met with a look of loathing and hatred, every time 
they pass you ? " " No," he answered quaintly in his 
broken English, "it is not as bad as that ; they are as 
one might say, ' civil, but not enthusiastic' " 

A few days after that I went to the American Em- 
bassy. Princess Braganza (American, with an Austrian 
husband) and another American lady with a German 
husband were there. So, with my English self, we were 
rather a mixed party, and war conversation on these 
occasions is supposed to be avoided. Nevertheless the 
question of the American Note cropped up as usual, and 
the Ambassadress said that if ever she heard the words 
" American Note " or " Ammunition " mentioned after 
the war, she would probably " shriek " ! 

Then the other American lady joined in with, " Yes, 
what a dreadful time we have had all this summer, and 
just as we were beginning to feel a little ' cosy ' on the 
subject of the Lusitania, those old Germans must go and 
sink another whole boat-load of Americans." 

I could not help smiling at her husband at this very 
pointed remark, which was such a proof of the saying 
that " Americans step in where angels fear to tread." 

Berlin, October 1915. — I have not so far ventured to 
utter my views about Miss Cavell, for the simple reason 
that if I once began I should say too much, and should 
probably be too candid on the subject. I think it one 
of the most dastardly deeds of the whole war, and I am 
not by any means alone in this opinion even in this city 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1915 85 

itself. It is extraordinary that the German Government 
{i.e. the miUtary authorities) should continue to ruin 
their cause by making repeated diplomatic mistakes like 
this. They argue that she was guilty, that she was a 
spy, that she had been smuggling dynamite to blow up 
bridges, that she had been signalling to the English 
troops where to land, that she had a regular code of 
signals with flyers ; but, I ask you, can one woman do 
all those marvellous things, especially in a town like 
Brussels ? I know what it is like even here ; if one 
sneezes out of tune one is accused of signalling to the 
enemy ; how, therefore, could it be done in an occupied 
town hke Brussels, where every second man is a 
detective ? 

Maybe she was guilty, but of what exactly ? Of 
helping wounded soldiers of any nationality to hide, 
to get into a place of safety, perhaps to get across 
the frontier back to their own country. What woman 
with a woman's heart would not do this ? Would we 
have any woman of our acquaintance act otherwise ? 
Even if it were the act of a spy, will the Germans never 
learn the lesson of " Mercy to season Justice " ? 

And then, why was it done in such a hurry ? And 
why were all the others forgiven, and only she executed ? 
Was it, as it is hinted here, due to private and personal 
malice because she was English ? All those who were 
forgiven were of another nationahty. Well, it is a blot ; 
in fact, another blot, to be quite exact ; and as a German 
of&cer said sadly to me to-day, when the war is over, 
and in the years to come, however distant, these blots 
are the things that will be remembered and go down to 
history, and all the brave deeds and wonderful feats that 
our troops and armies in the field have done, and all the 
many individual acts of heroism will be forgotten, and 
only such episodes as these will stand out. 

The Emperor is as usual getting the entire blame for 
the crime in all the neutral and other papers, but it is 
probably true, as they say, that he was really in ignorance 



86 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

of it until it was too late. It is declared emphatically, 
that on hearing of the sentence he wired ordering a 
postponement for further inquiry. It is also said that 
the Empress received a telegram the evening before 
from the King of Spain, begging her to use her influence, 
and only rephed that if women behave as men they must 
be punished as men. I can hardly believe it, but it is 
a fact that it is the Empress who disUkes England and 
the Enghsh, rather than the Emperor, whose Enghsh 
" interest," as they call it, has aroused jealousy here ever 
since the beginning of the war. 

There are so many rumours current as to who really 
is to blame for the sentence of death being carried out 
on Miss Cavell, that I hardly know whom to believe. 
Until now, I always thought it was Bissing who had in- 
sisted on it ; but I have heard from officers who were 
there at the time, that it was not so, that both Bissing 
and the Kaiser were against it, and that the latter even 
made use of his prerogative for mercy, and sent a pardon 
at the last hour, but the messenger arrived half an hour 
too late. 

It seems she had boasted too much at her trial of 
having helped Enghsh and Belgian soldiers over the 
frontier. Baron Lancken, who wished to acquit her, 
tried to make her speak in her own defence, which she 
refused to do, and thus she sealed her own fate. Major 
Sauberzweig, who confirmed the judgment as head of 
the. court-martial, is accused of having hurried on the 
execution, in spite of the fact of Baron Bissing pleading 
for her acquittal in Berhn at the same time, so the onus 
of her death must fall on him. 

Berlin, October 29, 1915. — The most interesting 
conversation I have had to-day was with Prince Miinster, 
who told us that the hopes of peace were all shattered 
once more. He related that an Enghshman had arrived 
in Hamburg, having got through with an American pass, 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1915 87 

and went to see Ballin (the Hamburg-American Line 
manager), who has so many Enghsh friends. In an 
miofficial way he volunteered the remark that Grey and 
Asquith sent their greetings to Balhn and wished to 
know his views as to the prospects of peace. If, for 
instance, Germany would enter into negotiations on the 
basis of giving up Belgium, England, he suggested, would 
be ready to do the same. 

The answer was, " Das glaube ich ! " which is about 
the same as, " I've no doubt she would." And there 
the matter dropped. 

Berlin, October 1915. — I have got some more news 
about Roger Casement. He came here to-day from 
Munich for a week, and I saw him for a moment. People 
here have very mixed opinions about him. Some think 
he is an Enghsh spy and only pretending to be a rebel, 
whereas others laugh at him as at a man who has failed. 

He tried, as usual, to talk me round about Ireland. 
I told him Ireland to me was like a little terrier biting 
at the heels of two great mastiffs. " Why," I said, " if 
he loved Ireland so, had he come to Germany ? " He 
wanted to stop the recruiting, was his reply. But that, 
I told him, could have been done more effectively by 
having remained in Ireland or having gone to America. 
" Why stop it ? " I asked him. " The Irish had proved 
such splendid soldiers and had even won an entire battle 
by themselves." 

Then his pride in the Irish soldier showed itself, 
proving that in reahty he does not know what he wants. 
But when he begins airing his opinions in too self-satisfied 
a manner, it makes me want to repeat to him the words 
I had heard lately from the lips of a German lady about 
him. " If you ask me," she said, " what I think of 
Roger Casement, I think him a blot on the earth ! " 

I happened too to meet a lady who knows the man 
who invented poison gas. His wife, it appears, was a 



88 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

doctor of chemistry too, and they used to work together. 
When the war came, and she saw what use was being 
made of her inventions, she committed suicide. Her 
husband, though, is proud of the valuable service he is 
doing for the Fatherland, and says he is even proud that 
he was called upon to sacrifice his wife to the cause. 
How different human beings are ! 

Berlin, October 29, 1915. — Prince Alfred Salm dined at 
the "Esplanade" the other evening. He was interesting 
to talk to about Poland, whence he is just back. He is the 
head of the Warsaw Nurses' Association, and organizes 
everything there. I asked him whether he associated 
with the Poles at all. He said the Polish ladies were 
most amiable, and invite the Germans to smart dinners, 
and are very charming to them. Then after dinner they 
begin to touch on politics and think the Germans won't 
see through it. They have only one wish, and that is 
to know who is going to be king of Poland ! 

Old Count Mettemich was there too, much flattered 
at the rumour that he was going to be made Ambassador 
at Constantinople. He had retired from public service 
after leaving London, and every one looked upon him 
rather as having been put on the shelf, and too old, 
and so on, so that he was pleased at having suddenly 
been unearthed. 

He has since really been appointed. He was telhng 
me about his journey with Solf to The Hague. He met 
ever so many old acquaintances from England there, 
and was deeply hurt at being cut by them all. 

Berlin, October 1915. — So English submarines are 
busy in the Baltic, and ships are bombarding the Bul- 
garian coast. Is the navy coming out at last ? I can't 
deny that I have been rather disappointed in the Enghsh 
navy, and the Germans are as much astonished at the 
little the navy has done as they are at the unexpected 
size, ability, and bravery of the English army. 

I hear the scarcity of cotton may influence the fabrica- 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1915 89 

tion of ammunition. It makes my hopes for peace rise 
to think of it. As Prince Munster says : "If you want 
to see Countess Bliicher smile, tell her the Germans are 
running short of ammunition ! " 

Personally I wish the world would run out of ammuni- 
tion for ever. 

A scare has broken out again among the Americans. 
The feehng to-day and yesterday has been almost as 
bad as after the Lusitania. The German attaches are 
not to be given a safe escort home, which is a thing 
unprecedented in history, it appears, and the Germans 
are furious about it. These attaches are supposed to 
have instigated others to blow up ammunition factories, 
but the Americans cannot lay their fingers on an actual 
proof. 

Anyway, the attaches are to return, and no guarantee 
for safety ! There were 150 dining here yesterday, and 
each single person took a different view. 

Ten days later. — It is amusing to read all these discus- 
sions and at the same time be sitting with the heroes of 
it at the same table. Herr von Papen, from Washing- 
ton, is here now at the "Esplanade" and was introduced 
to us last night. He says all the stories were much 
exaggerated. It is true that his cheque-book was taken 
away from him ; but most of the letters were pure 
invention. 

I was interested too at meeting Mr. and Mme. Dumba 
on their return from America. (Dumba, it will be remem- 
bered, had given his letters about the German ammunition 
factory workers to Archibald to take to Austria, and as it 
came out, America asked for him to be removed.) 

They dined here at the " Esplanade." Dumba seemed 
to feel things rather ; but it was quite evident that 
Mme. Dumba was delighted at finding herself so notorious 
on her return. 



90 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

I overheard an interesting remark to-day. They were 
speaking of the taking of Warsaw. " What is there to 
celebrate ? " said a young officer. " We had to ride 
over the bodies of our comrades to enter the town." 

I beheve this young officer was one of the first to 
enter ; but I remember at the time of the fall, each young 
man we met from that part had been THE FIRST, and 
it amused us to keep account of these firsts. We got to 
very near loo ! 

A German friend, Baron H , who had been living 

in England for many years, told me that though he knew 
nothing of soldiering, when war was declared he had had 
to leave his office-desk in London, and come straight out 
to join his regiment. He and his regiment (cavalry) 
were sent straight to Belgium, and for the first three 
weeks of the war they just rode about scouting. One 
night, after a 36 hours' continuous ride, just as they were 
lying down to a most welcome sleep, they were roused 
and ordered out to take a village. They set out wearily 
and very reluctantly, and rode into this village, clearing 
it and driving all before them. Months after, they were 
told that they had taken part in the now famous battle of 
Mons. 

How different is a battle, how different is war, from 
what we " stay-at-homes " picture it ! 

Berlin, November 15, 1915. — This morning the 
Enghsh papers are full of the butter riots in Berhn. 
The accounts are, of course, exaggerated. There is 
absolutely no question of " 200 people dead " ; one or 
two shghtly hurt is all that can be faithfully reported. 
Absolute silence on the subject is imposed here, and 
not a word is allowed to sHp into the daily papers. I 
suppose they think this is the best way to suppress 
further disturbance. 

What really happened was the following. About 200 
women trooped down the Linden, calling out " Frieden, 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1915 91 

Frieden " (peace), and at once 150 mounted police 
appeared on the scene with drawn swords to disperse 
the crowd. This they soon succeeded in doing, though 
they are supposed to have said themselves that they 
hated such drastic measures towards women, and a 
common soldier on leave said that if the infantry at the 
front were to hear that their wives were being treated 
thus in their absence, whether they demanded butter 
or anything else, they would refuse to continue fighting. 

Anyway, on the day of the Reichskanzler's speech the 
town was prepared for a regular riot. They had closed 
the gates of the Linden, and taken all precautions, but, 
strangely enough, hardly anything occurred. I have 
since heard that the crowds were immediately met by 
mounted and other pohce at the gates, and so many of 
the foremost women were taken prisoners that the others 
dispersed. The women have been sentenced to a fort- 
night to three weeks' imprisonment. 

The disappointment at the Reichskanzler's speech is 
very great — every one expected something tremendous 
from him, something that would alter the aspect of things. 
And he has said nothing. So people shrug their shoulders, 
and general depression is in the air. I, personally, do 
not see what he could have said, unless he had openly 
declared that Germany will give up Belgium. Every 
German now says, " Of course, we are ready to give 
up Belgium " ; and the Enghsh say, " We'll make peace 
if Germany will give up Belgium." So there they are 
facing one another, but no one will take an actual step 
towards opening negotiations. 

Berlin, November 1915. — A friend just returned from 
England tells me that the Zeppehn raids have aroused 
England's anger tremendously. The Enghsh will never 
show fear of any kind, but their faith in the impossibihty 
of any enemy reaching London has been shaken, and a 
certain tradition has been broken and every Englishman 
is roused. 



92 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

At the same time there is a hghter side to the raids. 
In the fashionable shops you can see nightdresses and 
dressing-gowns advertised as " Zepp nighties," " Robes 
for Raids," etc. 

This to the German mind appears the zenith of super- 
ficiahty, frivohty, and English arrogance (arrogance in 
their behef that nothing can touch them). They are 
much too ignorant of the Enghsh character to realize that 
an Englishman (or woman) might feel a pang of fear, 
but with his last breath he would say, " I don't care." 

The English could not have chosen a more effective 
way of showing the enemy the uselessness of these raids 
than by jeering at them. 

The pathetic tales one hears wherever one goes make 
the heart bleed. A poor woman in the train the other 
day was holding up her hand and counting the fingers 
on it slowly — one, two, three, four, five — over and over 
again. The passengers gradually began to smile at her, 
until at last the man sitting next to her looked up and 
said simply, " Don't laugh at my wife, ladies and gentle- 
men. I am taking her to the asylum. Her wits are gone. 
She has lost her five sons — all killed in action." 

Another tragic story is that of a boy who felt Hke a 
wild beast caught in a trap when forced into active service. 
He went to the front, almost lost his wits, and wrote 
distracted letters home. His parents, beyond themselves 
with despair, left no stone unturned to get him sent home. 
At last their petition was granted ; they knew their 
boy could come, and on that very day came a wire from 
the front : " Your son has committed suicide," 

Stories of this kind are not few and far between, and 
my heart cries out that it is natural, for those who are 
truly civilized cannot lightly set out to kill their fellow- 
creatures. 

What happens when they do, shows how war brings 
out the brute in man. Men in Flanders are sent into 
the houses to get firewood ; furniture is taken, boards 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1915 93 

from the flooring. " Why, then, of course, let ns smash 
up the whole show," they say. They pass their bayonets 
through the pictures, and destroy whatever is useless. 
Crockery is taken along to be used first ; after meals, 
when the cups and plates are dirty, it is easier to throw 
them out of the window than to go in search of water 
to wash them. There are plenty more cups and plates 
for to-morrow in another house ! 

No German soldiers may force the inhabitants to give 
them food without a receipt that is to be as good as cash 
after the war. So out they come, the poor Flemish 
women and Pohsh men. They offer milk, poultry, 
cheese, and the soldiers wilUngly give them bits of paper 
with a few words which they treasure up as carefully as 
if they were worth their weight in gold. The words on 
the paper are usually the following : "A thrashing to 
this old woman for her excellent cheese " ; " Three blows 
to the bringer of this paper for his fine eggs," and so on. 

They do not mean to be brutal, these German common 
soldiers : it is their idea of a good practical joke. " Who," 
they say, "is to pay all this after the war ? We shall 
not. Their own Government will not. It is all a farce ; 
let us do it in style ! " 

Berlin, November 1915. — Germany will be a very 
diflicult country to live in after the war, as, whether she 
wins or loses, the Socialists are going to revolt — I feel 
quite sure of that. It is the German custom to nip every- 
thing in the bud, and to use such drastic measures that 
whatever goes on in the soul of a man or party never 
rises to the surface, but is left fermenting in suppressed 
silence. 

It seems now, though, that the war is going to alter 
this state of affairs. The tremendous enthusiasm at 
the beginning for a struggle that each German felt was 
not of his desiring, but imposed on him, and which called 
forth all the loyalty as well as all the mihtary instincts 
of the race, left no room for discontent or contradiction. 



94 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

As the German army passed from victory to victory the 
people were Ufted off their feet with surprise at their 
own strength, and all party discussion seemed drowned 
in one great unity. What was said by the EngHsh Press 
about the revolt of the Sociahsts was absolutely wrong 
— Germany was united as perhaps never before. 

But now the war has been going on for a year and a 
half, and it has not been possible to suppress the losses, 
the suffering, the horrors. The long hsts of casualties 
have developed into great thick volumes ; more and more 
men are being called up ; women are realizing the enor- 
mous burden imposed upon them. They have to do the 
men's work as well as their own, and when they have 
earned their pay it all goes into the pockets of others who 
sell them food at enormous prices. Naturally they begin 
more than ever to say : " Why should we work, starve, 
send our men out to fight ? What is it all going to bring 
us ? More work, more poverty, our men cripples, our 
homes ruined. What is it all for ? What do we care 
whether we have a bit more land added on to our big 
Germany ? We had enough land. We'd rather fight 
for a more just division of the goods of this earth. For 
whether we obtain land or money for the ' Fatherland ' 
after this war, we shall not see any change in our Uves ; 
the wealth will not come our way. The State which 
called upon us to fight cannot even give us decent food, 
does not treat our men as human beings, but as so many 
screws in the great machine of the German army. If 
one screw drops out or gets bent, there are plenty more ; 
we cannot stop to pick up the lost ones, or straighten 
the crooked." 

A young officer returning from a fight in which he had 
had to watch his men being literally mown down by 
machine-guns, went up to Headquarters to report. There 
he found the highest staff authorities sitting at a banquet 
and discussing the war in a flippant way. " I could have 
killed them all," was his remark. And men going out 
to the front after recovering from their wounds have 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1915 95 

been heard to say : " We've been hurt once and are 
half cripples ; they think it better to send us back as 
' cannon fodder ' ; we can get killed off and no loss to 
the State." 

Everywhere you can hear it murmured : " We are 
forced to keep silence now ; but wait till the war is over, 
then our turn will come." 

How must a mother feel whose only son is in daily 
danger, when, going into some hotel like the " Esplanade," 
she sees people feasting in splendour, smartly dressed, 
talking and laughing, and in every way living in the lap 
of luxury ? Will she feel anything but hatred for these 
thoughtless, indifferent creatures ? Will she not say : "Is 
this what we are sacrificing everything for ? Is this 
the great country, the culture that is to redeem the 
world ?" 

What about the way the officers live, when not in 
action ? Pheasant served on slices of pine-apple, with 
champagne, is a mere item in a long menu, whilst others 
are starving. The bread they get is so hard that they 
cannot bite it, and often there is not even that. The 
injustice of all this is bound to make them cry out for 
equality and fairness, not that they should be sent out 
to fight other men, called enemies, who are just in the 
same pHght as themselves. 

The authorities act the whole time. They keep up 
appearances, revel in victories, praise their organization, 
and never a word is breathed amongst them about the 
sadness of the losses, the sufferings of friend and foe alike. 

Germany with all her mental and physical progress 
has suffered this miHtary autocracy for a hundred years. 
Maybe she will now wake up to reahze that this is not 
the right government. How will the people's awakening 
manifest itself ? Will they wreak vengeance on those 
who are really to blame, or will they make all of us 
aristocrats responsible for what we could not avert ? 

Will a new RadicaUsm arise — not destructive this time. 



96 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

but constructive and creative ? Will they realize that 
might is not always right ? That a clear vision, sound 
principles, and work side by side with one's brother man 
are what is lacking in this up-to-date civilization that has 
fallen so low, and is bleeding to death now where the 
Great Powers are demonstrating their methods on the 
battlefields of Europe ? 

Berlin, December 1915. — In reference to what 1 have 
last written, a man looking in at the " Esplanade " the 
other night, his face pressed against the glass of the door, 
showed an expression of hatred and disgust at the elegant 
public within at their supper, in which there were few 
signs of the frugality expected in times such as these. 
How well I can understand this, though ; or that a man 
returning from the front, where he has seen all the horrors 
of war, when meeting a lady in the Berlin streets going 
to some concert or theatre, should try to waylay her 
and impress her with a sense of her wickedness. It must 
strike them as frivolity in the extreme, and heartless 
wantonness ; and yet — " life must go on as us]aal " ! 

Disappointment about the expected response to the 
Reichskanzler's speech from England is great here, and 
hatred of the English is surging up again. There is no 
doubt the speech was prepared with the intention of hold- 
ing out the olive branch. And now ? — England answers 
by ridiculing the offer. To them it seems as though 
England were like a gambler who has lost all, but hopes 
to regain his losses and win besides by a continuation of 
the gamble. 

Is it that really ? Or is there more going on behind 
the scenes ? Does Germany ask too much for the 
other Powers to be able to accept without sacrifices that 
cannot be made ? 

Germany says she will not keep Belgium ; England 
says she will make peace if Germany will give up Belgium. 
And yet no attempt at a truce and negotiations is made — 



BERLIN, DECEMBER 1915 97 

at least so it appears to us who have only censored 
newspapers to satisfy our thirst for knowledge, and 
a word dropped discreetly or indiscreetly here and 
there. 

If only the Emperor were able to enforce his will ! 
He is so terribly misunderstood and misjudged. His 
position is too difficult, as he is always being suspected 
of pro-English feehng. 

He has done two great things lately — I only wish 
people knew. He has forbidden the air raids over 
London, and has tried to oppose von Tirpitz's submarine 
warfare. I know for a fact that von Tirpitz has had to 
resign and is not in favour. He declared the German 
navy could only be effective by submarine warfare and 
had to resign practically by order of the Emperor. 

A lady I know was telling me of her experiences in a 
" Stadtbahn " railway carriage the other day. There 
was a poor Galician peasant girl who couldn't speak a 
word of German, and who had been told to go to her home 
and to leave Hamburg. She had a piece of paper in her 
hand with her name and address, and was weeping bitterly 
all the time. 

This naturally started the people in the compartment 
talking, and as it was a third-class carriage, comments 
were pretty free. 

One man said out aloud : " We can't talk now, but 
wait till our turn comes ; we're not going to sacrifice all 
our blood for the rich. They'll be surprised at what we 
shall have to say when our turn comes ! " 

When is that turn of theirs to come, I wonder ? 

Berlin, December 15, 1915. — Christmas is approaching, 
and in every heart is a fervent prayer that the season of 
peace and good-will may in some way become the term 
appointed for a final step towards the end of all this 
bloodshed. " The Christ-child will help us," as the 
German children say, and so we are making our scanty 

H 



98 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

preparations for the festival, with an undercurrent of 
hopefulness in our souls. 

Berlin, or what we call " Our Berlin," seems as fuU as 
usual. The members of the Reichstag are arriving for 
the opening of the session, and troops of officers are 
flocking in on their Christmas leave. 

Prince Lowenstein is back from Lille, Prince Salm 
from Warsaw. Prince Lynar and many others are here. 
They do not speak much of their experiences, but one 
gathers a great weariness of all the horrors of war. There 
are so many uniforms here, in fact, that some one said the 
other day : " Could the enemy look in at the Esplanade 
Hotel and see all the officers sitting here, they might 
think it a good moment for attempting a fresh offensive." 

We are still suffering from disappointment over the 
Entente's reply to the German Chancellor's speech with 
its peace feelers, and the reactionary outburst of hatred 
against England. It is especially the women who hate 
so intensely, the women who cannot vent their feehngs 
in action, as men can, but are forced to remain suffering 
passively, after having fostered the hope somewhere in 
their subconsciousness that things were about to change, 
and that their sons and brothers and husbands, who are 
with them now, might soon be spared to return to their 
normal duties. 

It is ever the old refrain we hear — England is guilty 
of keeping on the war — England with her arrogance and 
inhumanity is responsible for all the oceans of blood being 
shed. Often enough I ask myself despairingly, " What 
can England do ? " My soul is weary of the carnage, 
and I crave for peace at almost any price — and yet I 
see, or rather I feel, why England cannot stop now. 

It is the old experience that the alien world has often 
wondered at, and has never understood, and never will 
understand. The Enghsh never know when they are beaten, 
and in the face of all odds go on. An American expressed 
it very aptly, if somewhat naively, in a few words which 



BERLIN, DECEMBER 1915 99 

he had heard in the English War Office only a week ago : 
" How can we make peace now ? We are not yet vic- 
torious, and may win still if we continue fighting." 

This is the whole situation in a nutshell, and rightly or 
wrongly it is characteristic of England, and demonstrates a 
quality too often neglected in the calculations of her enemies, 
and is just what is so infuriating Germany at present. 

The energetic pushing Prussians so often scoff at the 
English and use bitter words about their so-called de- 
cadence. England has been asleep, they say, resting on 
the laurels gained by her forefathers. England, gorged 
with colonies and surfeited with riches, has grown old 
and impotent ; too much play and too little work has 
ruined her vitahty ! 

The shadow of a fear flits across my mind at these 
words. At any rate, she is awakened now, somewhat 
roughly as it seems. And it remains to be seen if the long 
decades of prosperity have really quenched that fire which 
glowed so hotly in the blood of the old seafarers, or if 
the British grit which so often won battles in the past will 
still hold fast where it has once bitten, and not lose hold 
until one of the opponents lies exhausted on the ground. 

I, who am endeavouring to see both sides of the 
question, cannot refrain from asking myself why Germany 
is so keen on making peace at present. Is it solely from 
humanitarian reasons ? or is it rather that her strength 
is waning, and although she may be able to hold out a 
good time yet, she cannot advance any further ? 

If solely from a humanitarian point of view, why did 
she reject the feelers for peace offered some months ago 
by the other side, on the plea that they were an insult 
to her, at the height of victory and success ? Did she 
then foster any feelings of humanity for the sufferings 
of her opponents and their countries ? Is her present 
humanity bom of the fact that she may sink no more 
Lusitanias, and cause no more wholesale slaughters by 
means of her Zeppelins ? 

No, I am afraid if ever humanity played a part in the 



loo AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

warfare of past times, it certainly forms no consideration 
in the wars of to-day. Germany needs peace, and is 
probably ready to sacrifice some of her former aims and 
ambitions, arguing that having so far been victorious 
from a military point of view, she hopes to reap the 
harvest of her conquests, whereas, should the war con- 
tinue, she may from growing exhaustion lose her grip on 
the treasure-trove, and in the end be forced to sacrifice 
more than she would wish. 

But to return to the question of hatred, which has 
to-day assumed such biblical dimensions that it can only 
find expression in the words of the Psalmist. " If England 
be well hated here, America is hated still better," as the 
Bavarians would say. 

Their hatred is in fact so intense that many Germans 
will not be seen speaking to an American. They assert 
that if it had not been for America continually supplying 
the Allies with munitions and money, they would have 
been financially ruined by now, and the war over long 
ago. One gentleman the other day likened America to a 
great greedy vulture, feeding on the carrion of the battle- 
fields of Europe, and growing ever grosser and more 
complacent as the masses of its gory food increased. 

Berlin, December 27, 1915. — Well, Christmas is over, 
without bringing any fresh development in the old state 
of things, but also without bringing any new catastrophe, 
as some of us half expected. 

For weeks past, the town seems to have been enveloped 
in an impenetrable veil of sadness, grey in grey, which 
no golden ray of sunlight ever seems able to pierce, and 
which forms a fit setting for the white-faced, black-robed 
women who glide so sadly through the streets, some bear- 
ing their sorrow proudly as a crown to their lives, others 
bent and broken under a burden too heavy to be borne. 

But everywhere it will be the same ; in Paris and 
London too every one will be gazing at their Christmas- 
trees with eyes dim with tears. 



BERLIN, DECEMBER 1915 loi 

We made some joint efforts to celebrate Christmas for 
others by preparing small gifts for the soldiers and for 
the poor. The shops made some rather futile attempts 
at Christmas sales, which were peremptorily forbidden, 
and the crowds which had collected from all parts of 
Berlin were dispersed without having made any pur- 
chases. No textile goods might be sold in special sales ! 

On Christmas Day I went to assist at the celebration 
of the festival at the Hedwig Krankenhaus, now turned 
into a Lazarett for soldiers. The hospital was beautifully 
decorated with Christmas green, each soldier having a 
Christmas-tree of his own, under whose branches the small 
gifts of love lay spread which every German treasures Hke 
a child. 

The solemn Christmas songs were sung, touching the 
hearts of all those present, and we ladies did what we 
could to bring some touch of gladness into the hearts 
of these men who have sacrificed so much for their 
Fatherland, and many of whom will never be strong and 
active for any fight again. 

But infinitely more heart-rending and pathetic was 
our visit next day to the blind soldiers' Home, those poor 
men whose lot is assuredly the hardest of all. The rooms 
had been decorated in exactly the same way as at the 
hospital, at the express wish of the poor fellows, who 
could only see it at all with the eyes of memory. 

It was extremely touching to see how they tried to 
convince themselves that everything had been done ex- 
actly as if they could see, and how they felt their way 
round the room, lighting up small branches at the candles 
on the trees, so that the smell of the burning pine should 
more forcibly suggest all that they could not perceive, 
whilst their dead eyes reflected the tiny lights which they 
would never see again. 

In the meantime the snow had been falling unceasingly, 
and as we all went off together to Midnight Mass at the 
Convent Hospital, the silent streets and houses lay 
shrouded with pure white snow. The church was crowded 



I02 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

with wounded soldiers, nurses, nuns, and pale-faced, 
heart-broken women, and as the solemn music slowly 
wound its way through the dim shadows of the pillared 
aisles, it seemed to me as if our fervent prayers must 
meet in union, and rise like a cloud up to the very feet 
of God — prayers for the dpng and dead, for comfort for 
the bereaved, and for ourselves, that we might never 
again spend such a Christmas of anguish and suspense ; 
prayers imploring " the tender mercy of our God to shine 
upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, 
and to guide our feet into the way of peace." 

Berlin, January 1916. — Berhn is not a city of romance. 
There are none of those dark winding by-ways, filled with 
the memories of past centuries, which are to be met with 
in Paris or London. The spirit of it is intensely modem. 
Its streets are broad and straight, unromantically clean. 
There is no room for imagination, which loves the shadows 
and crooked alleys of the past. 

The architecture is new and painfully varied, almost 
every building bearing the stamp of some man who at 
the moment was seeking to make his impress on the 
sands of time. There is no one great master-mind, but 
many lesser minds struggling for expression. 

And so we meet with a strange incongruity in the styles 
of the different streets and houses. Gothic stores and 
classical bank buildings, renaissance villas and baroque 
churches, Nuremberger houses and theatres conceived in 
the spirit of Greek tragedy : these all greet our eyes 
during an hour's walk. 

Our Hotel Esplanade is none of all these. It repre- 
sents exactly what it was intended to be, a centre or 
gathering-place for the great world of Berhn in time of 
peace : royalties, statesmen, diplomats, officers and high 
officials, and last but not least, the great financiers who 
are supposed to hold the wires of the affairs of the world 
in their two hands. At present it has become a sort of 
caravansary for all the homeless exiles of position and 



BERLIN, JANUARY 1916 103 

influence, who have been driven away from house to 
house by the great tidal wave of the war. 

All people of any repute passing through Berlin take 
up their abode here, princes and nobles, and impecunious 
millionaires, who somewhere or other possess the accumu- 
lated treasures of an Aladdin, but who for the time being 
exist here on the reputation of these treasures, which 
seem to have disappeared just as mysteriously as they 
did in the Arabian Nights. 

All the heroes of the war meet their wives and friends 
here, very much astonished to find themselves suddenly 
grown famous overnight. American diplomats prepared 
for instant flight, should the scales of peace and war 
suddenly weigh down on the wrong side ; American prin- 
cesses and duchesses, of a characteristic lighthearted- 
ness, some married morganatically but carrying off 
their position with a high hand, bring a fresh breezy and 
inappropriate tone with them, which gives a touch of 
comedy to the general tragedy of human life at present. 

I sometimes sit downstairs in one of the beautiful 
reception-rooms, and wonder with a great wonder. Every- 
thing looks the same, nothing has changed outwardly. 
And yet it is all so different. 

There is the same spacious lounge with the luxurious 
carpets and furniture, the huge arm-chairs inviting to 
meditation and repose ; the vast reception-hall, with its 
groups of flowers and plants ; the quiet comers, where 
in the screen of sheltering palms grave questions of state 
or those of a lighter nature may be discreetly discussed. 

The wide flight of steps leading up so gracefully into 
the brilhance of the dining-room ; the exquisite pro- 
portions of the oval-shaped apartment ; the pillars of 
grey- veined marble ; the white festivity of the flowered 
ornaments on ceihng and walls ; the soft luminance 
falUng from the crystal chandehers on the rosy redness of 
silken curtains and screens — style of Louis XVI. — what 
an enchanting setting for those gay festivities of but 
a few short years ago ! 



104 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

I close my eyes, and again the gay pageant arises 
before me. The stiff ceremony of the Court receptions 
over, it used to be the custom for us all to throng here. 
How well I remember it all ! The soft brilhance of the 
rooms seemed but to enhance the beauty of the women. 
The exquisite robes, creations of some great artist of 
European fame ; the radiant eyes outshining the radiance 
of gleaming jewels on white arms and necks ; the ripple 
of glad laughter, and the rise and fall of many voices in 
gay conversation. Men with the clear-cut features and 
characteristic expressions of those bearing the burden of 
authority, silver-haired and showing many orders on their 
coats ; and young men in the flower of their youth and 
strength, the perfection of manhood, who in the splendour 
of their court-uniforms conjured up visions of the knights 
of King Arthur's round table. 

Where are they all now, those proud Lancelots, and 
brave Sir Galahads and Percivales of the white uniforms 
and gleaming cuirass ? Done to death most of them — 
their bodies lying unburied perhaps, mouldering and de- 
caying in the bloody foulness of some distant battlefield, 
or at the best condemned to spend the rest of their days 
as cripples, the beauty of their manhood marred for ever ! 

Style Louis XVI. ! In the Ught of past events, it seems 
to me now that there was a sort of similarity existing 
between our festivities and those of that ill-fated Court 
at Versailles. " Apres nous le deluge," we too might have 
said, had we been able to gaze but a short space into the 
future. But we, like the rest of the world, were visited 
with a great blindness, and there was no prophet amongst 
us to read the Mene Tekel perhaps even then written on 
the walls. 

And now to return to our hfe of to-day. The greatest 
simplicity in dress is of course the universal order — black, 
relieved by dull-coloured shades of brown and grey. 
Most of us still wear the clinging robes of before the war, 
and only the Americans make futile attempts to exhibit 
the strange eccentricities of fashion on their own persons. 



BERLIN, JANUARY 1916 105 

Conversation is quiet and subdued generally, although 
there are of course those who still seem to regard life as 
a mere chance of having a good time. " Let us eat, 
drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die," seems to be 
the guiding principle of their doings. 

But for most of us the pain and suffering of 
humanity have eaten into our souls, and as for love ? 
Is there room for love in any one's soul nowadays ? 
The dainty, deUcate, rainbow-hued god of the past can 
have nothing to do with the agonizing hurried embrace 
in between two battles, which love means at present. 

In spite of my varied interests and occupations in 
connection with the war, I sometimes feel terribly lonely. 
Not the lonehness of being alone, but the loneliness of 
being one in a crowd, in a country where every one's 
sympathies and opinions are so terribly in opposition to 
my own. 

I sometimes feel fairly rent in two, between love of 
my family and native land and love and loyalty to my 
husband and his country for his sake. 

I remember one day last spring, when the hatred 
began to turn against America, how an American friend 
came up to me, her eyes filled with tears. " I thought 
I knew what you had been suffering all the winter, but 
now that they are beginning to vent their hatred on us, 
I realize for the first time what you poor women have 
been enduring. It is not so much what they say, as the 
cold scorn of their faces, when they look at us." 

There are a good many ladies amongst us, like myself, 
who are internationally married. Some people say we 
ought to be labelled and ticketed to say where we all 
come from, and to what country we belong, as otherwise 
it restricts conversation. 

Well, without going so far as that, I will describe 
some of those who are here, as we are rather like people 
in a besieged town, and have been in daily intercourse 
with one another for more than a year. There are 
Princess Miinster, Princess Pless, Baroness Roeder, all 



io6 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

English like myself. Of Americans, there are Princess 
Braganza, the wife of Prince Miguel, who is son of the 
Portuguese Pretender (she was a Miss Stewart) ; Princess 
Isenburg, Countess Gotzen, the Duchess of Croy, who 
was well known as Nancy Leishman in BerUn when 
her father was American Ambassador ; Baroness von 
Rath, a war-bride, who is considered quite the prettiest 
woman among our set ; Baroness Barchfeld, the mor- 
ganatic wife of Prince Max of Hesse ; Countess Seherr- 
Thoss, who was Miss White, daughter of Mr. Henry 
White, formerly American Ambassador at Paris ; 
Baroness Stemburg, and several others besides. Princess 
de Biron is French, and there are a few ladies of PoHsh 
and Russian extraction. 

Amongst the men there is a Major S with his 

bride of last year. He is an officer of the ist Garde 
Regiment and was all through the awful reverse on the 
Marne. She is always pointed out as the only wife in 
that regiment who is not a widow, as she was married 
after the appalHng slaughter took place. Talking of this 
regiment, its losses have been so fearful that the whole 
regiment has been entirely renewed five times since the 
beginning of the war, and this particular officer has never 
been able to rejoin it owing to break-down of nerves from 
the experiences he witnessed. 

Then there is the ex-Turkish Ambassador, Muchtar 
Pasha, whose wife, a great friend of all of ours, is sister 
to the Khedive of Egypt. So she, like the rest of us, is 
torn in two with divided sympathies. 

Then there is Count Flotow, ex-Ambassador in Rome, 
who, when Italy came into the war, had to leave Rome, 
and at the same time obtained temporary divorce from 
his Russian wife, as, according to Russian law, she would 
have had to sacrifice all her great fortune if she had been 
the wife of a German during war-time. 

Then the following come and go from the front, as 
the Herrenhaus sits or as they obtain leave : Prince 
Pless, Prince Salm, Prince Miinster, Prince Lowenstein, 



BERLIN, JANUARY 1916 107 

Prince Lynar, Prince Braganza, Prince Fiirstenberg, 
Prince Lippe, Prince Taxis. 

Besides the international clique, there were of course 
many other residential friends of ours in the hotel. For 
instance the clan of Hohenlohe ; so numerous are they 
that it would be impossible to name them personally. 
Prince Hohenlohe, the head of the family, better known 
as the Duke of Ujest, was always treated somewhat as 
the princely owner of the hotel, and sat at a large round 
table in the centre of the room around which were clus- 
tered smaller tables of different members of the family 
like satellites revolving round a central sun. Needless 
to say, the said solar system was not entirely devoid of 
financial attraction. 

Also among the groups were to be seen Princess Max 
Taxis, who finds Berlin society somewhat narrow after 
her gay international life, and her mother. Princess 
Metternich, who was a famous beauty and is still 
attractive at the age of 70. 

To descend to some less conspicuous but equally 
attractive members of Berlin war-society in the hotel, 
come Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, he already well known 
internationally for his organization of the Prisoner of 
War Department, and she for the kind-hearted hospi- 
tahty she showered on all of us. Also, lastly, Mr. Lay, 
the American Consul-General, and his wife. He has 
earned a word of gratitude for the sympathetic help 
he rendered to prisoners of war in an unofficial way, 
and she will always be remembered among us for her 
friendly, open-handed entertaining, which we always en- 
joyed in her pretty suite of rooms above us in the hotel. 

Most of us are pretty fully occupied. Our mornings 
are filled with self-imposed war duties. There is nursing 
at the hospitals ; soup kitchens to be helped ; women's 
guilds and workrooms to be visited, where destitute 
women are provided with sewing, and given tickets for 
clothes or food ; the Red Cross office, and correspondence. 



io8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

My special department, and that of my English friends, 
is the British prisoners and research of the missing. 
We sometimes type for three or four hours on end, or 
spend the day looking through the inquiry lists at the 
American Embassy or the Red Cross office. 

Then again, many destitute governesses and maids, 
banished from England with £io in their pockets, and 
who have often been deprived of their letters of reference 
at the Customs, come to us for help, and we try to get 
them employment again, which grows harder every day, 
as the German employment officials object to finding 
them work, reproaching them with having gone to 
England in time of peace, and only returning when they 
had no choice. 

During luncheon the latest news from the front is 
discussed, extracts from letters are read, the Berliner 
Zeitung, the midday paper, is brought in ; and as it 
has had the whole morning to fabricate its Ues, it is 
generally more thrilling than the morning paper. 

My husband is always very popular at this hour, for 
he brings the English papers from the office, just two 
days earUer than any one else gets them, and as he has 
to return them in one and a half hours, there is something 
like a scrimmage to get a ghmpse at them. 

During luncheon American diplomats often look in 
on their way home from the Embassy, and they are 
generally laden with news, which, as it comes uncensored 
straight from England and America, is always of burning 
interest for us. But they are not always in the mood, 
or are forbidden to impart it. 

We regard these Americans as a kind of poUtical 
barometer, whose demeanour generally informs us pretty 
well as to the state of the impending Notes between 
Germany and America. Some days they come in 
smihng and affable, mentioning little bits of news as if 
by accident ; and we know that the political clouds are 
clearing up. But on other days they pass by without 
seeing us, a Sphinx-like expression on their faces, and 



BERLIN. JANUARY 1916 109 

only talk amongst themselves. Then we know there is 
a crisis pending. But when they become directly agress- 
ive in appearance, and keep to themselves in a general 
atmosphere of glum gloominess, we know that the crisis 
has become critical, and the American ladies here who 
are married to Germans take turns in trjdng to pump 
out of them what the exact state of affairs is. 

I suppose the position of these men is rather difficult, 
but I think they might be more sympathetic sometimes. 
One would imagine they had no family ties themselves, 
by the way they seem to freeze into silence at the mention 
of any affectionate interest in one's relations in England. 

In my own mind I class the Americans at the Embassy 
under the headings " the kind-hearted and sympathetic," 
and " those who simply regard the whole situation from 
a business point of view." 

Every fortnight one or other of them travels to 
London, and they might realize how much good they 
could do our aching home-sick hearts if they would only 
bring one little word from home, even if it were only an 
anecdote about London, or what the weather was like, 
and how people were looking ; instead of which the 
whisper goes round that some one is going to London, 
but the ladies are not to know, for fear of their having 
commissions for them. 

But all our hves, we shall remember those few with 
gratitude who sacrificed themselves a httle in our 
interests. 

After lunch we sit about until 3 o'clock, or some one 
of us gives a tea in her private rooms for a select few. 
Dinner is at 8.30, a repetition of lunch, followed by the 
visits of ministers, military authorities, court officials, or, 
more interesting still, men going to or returning from the 
war. 

And every one brings news of his or her comer of the 
world, or of the world-war ; and I hear everything, and 
sometimes grow quite dazed at the manifold and contrary 
opinions and judgments I hear expressed, until at last 



no AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

I believe nothing at all, but can only sit still with folded 
hands, in a state of abject despair. 

Berlin, January 1916. — ^The day before yesterday we 
had dinner with Prince and Princess Braganza and met 
the Duke of Mecklenburg. He is the first man who 
entered Nisch. He has now gone to Bagdad to take 
command there for a year. That does not sound like an 
end of the war. 

The American scare is worse than ever. We have 
been told to be nice to the Americans. They are hardly 
the sort to be taken in by sudden amiability on the 
German side. 

Colonel House, the American pacifist, was here at the 
time when the Note arrived. Strange that is, for his 
Government surely must have known the Unes on which 
he was working here at the time. Bethmann-HoUweg 
was to meet him ; his mission was one of peace, and he 
was going round from one belligerent country to the 
other, preaching it, whilst the American Government 
behind him was threatening war. 

On returning from a luncheon-party to-day, my hus- 
band told me that the feeUng between the ministers and 
the military and naval party is growing from bad to 
worse. It all turns on the burning question of un- 
restricted submarine warfare, which its partisans say 
will be the turning-point in the war for Germany. The 
Admiralty are all in favour of it, prophesying that it 
will starve England out in six months, and so bring the 
war to a speedy end. Ludendorff and Hindenburg are 
against it, as they say they can win the war without it, 
and Ludendorff complains bitterly of the indecision of 
the responsible statesmen in this matter. The Kaiser 
and Bethmann-HoUweg are absolutely opposed to it 
from feehngs of humanity. 

Berlin, January 22, 1916. — The excitement about the 



BERLIN, JANUARY 1916 in 

Baralong is tremendous. We had tea with Baron Jagow, 
and of course it was discussed. They think this cold- 
blooded answer from England worse than anything. 

My husband explained that the very fact of England's 
suggesting a court of arbitration and judgment by 
American naval officers showed that the Enghsh did not 
intend greater offence. He told them that at the Foreign 
Office too, and Solf and Jagow said, " Germany must 
send back as cold an answer." Whereupon G. said, 
" Why not have a court of arbitration ? Any kind of 
negotiations between the two countries might lead on to 
peace in the end." On the strength of this argument 
Germany's answer was kept back for twenty-four hours, 
but as the Americans refused to arbitrate, the whole 
thing fell through. 

Somebody told us that the Note had been worded 
thus by England so as to make the German answer an 
impossibihty, the cases brought up against Germany 
being too dangerous. Grey, he said, had had nothing to 
do with it. Balfour had worded the Note. 

There are two parties now — partly through the Bara- 
long — the Foreign Office versus the Admiralty. As for 
von Tirpitz, he is so angry that they can hardly keep 
him in the Admiralty. He has handed in his resignation 
twice already, but it was not accepted, so he remains, but 
has lost all interest. 

He says he was just in full swing with his submarine 
warfare when he was stopped by the Emperor suddenly. 
He says only drastic methods are of any avail ; but the 
Emperor has a spark of humanity left and won't have 
this, although he is not credited with it. 

Disagreeables are going on in the army too. Hinden- 
burg wants more troops, and von Falkenhayn and the 
others are jealous of his popularity and success, and will 
not let him have all he wants. So he can only remain on 
the defensive. It all seems incredible. 

Much discussion has been going on about the Reichstag 
and Herrenhaus debates. One Httle bit I must mention 



112 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

here, as it was not allowed to leak out into the news- 
papers. One of the Princes rose and made a speech in 
which he said that Germany must go on with the war 
until she can make peace at her own terms. She must 
keep every inch of the conquered country and get every 
penny of the expended money back. 

A regular tumult arose, and another Prince answered 
him, saying that in a speech of that kind he was not 
only jeopardizing Germany but the throne itself. The 
thing for Germany to do was to know when to stop. 

" If America keeps on," the Germans say (some of 
them, of course), " we're done for. America is actually 
keeping things going. If America will stop providing 
the Allies with munitions, we can still win." 

Who knows ? Anyway, all seem to agree that 
Bismarck would have managed things better. He would 
have known how to draw Germany out of the matter 
gracefuUy after a few months, and the other countries 
would have been able to imagine that they had played 
the game all right, as well ! 

There is an intrigue going on to get Bethmann-HoUweg 
out and Biilow in. So there are jealousies everywhere. 
If it would only bring the end a bit nearer, there would 
be some hope in it all. 

Berlin, February 1916. — We were dining at Countess 
Henckel's the other night. Count Henckel is just back 
for a few days' leave. She being Austrian, her parties 
are generally a mixture of R.C. Austrians and Germans 
— just the one little set of Larischs, Tattenbachs, Lowen- 
steins, etc. 

This evening the Austrian Ambassador, Prince 
Hohenlohe, and his wife (an Austrian Archduchess) 
were dining there, and as we were sitting down to dinner 
I was surprised to hear her call out across the table to 
me in English (which is always a shock nowadays) : 

" Guess whom I had a telegram from to-day ? " 

It was not difficult to guess, judging by her beaming 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1916 113 

face and her animated remark, seeing that as a rule 
she is a quiet, retiring httle lady who never utters a word. 
And so I knew from this that it was from her sister 
Princess Salm, who had been with her husband a prisoner 
in Gibraltar, to say they were on their way home after 
a year and a half's absence. 

Berlin, February 20, 1916. — Yesterday evening we 
met and had a long and most interesting talk with friends, 
among whom were Prince and Princess Salm-Salm, whom 
I have just mentioned. 

I have been most interested in Prince Salm's fate, 
and had heard all about his internment in Gibraltar. 
It was quite a different matter meeting him personally, 
and I proceeded to put several questions to him about 
his treatment by the EngUsh. 

I was touched at the Archduchess' (Princess Salm's) 
gratitude to me. She told me that my message about 
her children being well was the only news she had received 
of any sort for the first six months of the war. 

I felt particularly proud, as I know that the King of 
Spain and many others had been trying to get messages 
through to her and her husband, and had not succeeded. 
I wrote to my family, who communicated with Sir 
Lewis Michell (a great South African magnate), and he 
got this message through. She says she will never forget 
her feehng of joy when, as if from the air, the words 
came : " Countess Bliicher told me to tell you your 
children are well and send their love." 

Prince Salm's treatment in Africa was the worst part. 
He was put into a camp with eighty other men, mostly 
farmers, in the pavilion of a cricket ground ; and no 
distinction whatever was made. Then, he said, there 
were constant risings against the Government, and the 
prisoners were sent up to Johannesburg. Hardly had 
their train started than the Unes were destroyed, and 
they were cut off from every kind of communication. 
He could not even hear from his Avife. 

I 



114 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

After that they both left South Africa and were 
transported to Gibraltar, where Prince Salm was again 
interned, but this time in a better fashion. 

He was fairly comfortable and could see his wife 
frequently, but had only a yard to walk in, so got very 
little exercise ; and he is certainly quite unlike the old 
Prince Salm who rather longed for war and adventure. 
In fact, it was in search of the latter that he went off to 
Africa, so missing the former ! He is to go out to the 
Russian front to-morrow and is feeUng doubtful as to 
how he will stand it, as his long internment has made 
him quite soft and unused to bodily exertions of any kind. 

The Princess had quite a good time in Gibraltar. 
She is gay and fond of company, and made many friends 
there. She had plenty of change, and heard news and 
opinions from every side. She made friends too with 
the English ladies there, and read her copy of the Times 
every day. In fact, they had nothing to complain of. 
Prince Salm even raved of the EngUsh cooking ! 

Princess Salm went twice to see the King of Spain. 
The Duke of Alba, it appears, is somewhat pro-German 
(in fact, half the country is) ; and they get so excited 
about politics that she told me two Dukes actually fought 
a duel in her presence, one being pro-German and the 
other anti. Very Spanish that scene must have been ! 

On their return voyage they stopped at Tilbury. It 
was strange, he said, to see the change. All the sailors 
go about with life-belts slung over their shoulders, ready 
to be torpedoed any moment. Three wrecks were 
floating about near the docks, and as they passed along, 
they heard the distant roar of the guns. 

I can revel in my husband's fame once more. Prince 
Salm said that wherever he went in South Africa he was 
always asked if he did not know Count Bliicher, and 
that he heard his praises warmly sung on every side. 

I heard an amusing story to-day. A Cathohc soldier 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1916 115 

here refused to go to confession. " Why," he said, 
" what is there to confess ? Stealing is permitted, and 
kilUng a duty." 

It seems to put the situation pretty clearly. A letter 
too from a " Kriegsfreiwilliger " this morning contained 
the following observation : " Why take life seriously ? 
If a man were to ask you to do what hfe asks of us, you 
would say, ' He's a fool ; don't take him seriously.' 
Why then life ? " 

Berlin, February 27, 1916. — I sometimes smile at the 
mixture of friends I have here. It is all like a great play 
at the theatre. Outside there is apparent comedy, and 
below the surface a strong current of feeling, a passion 
of contradiction ! 

For instance, yesterday I had a tea-party, and the 
conversation changed in " tone " according to which 
nationality happened to enter. The first was Countess 
Moltke, the American wife of the Danish Consul. Her 
duty orders her to be " neutral," or guardedly pro- 
German, out of deference to her husband's official position. 
She is a very clever woman, and pohtically there is nothing 
she does not know. 

Then came Countess Platen ; she is half Dutch, half 
English by birth, and now married to a German. At the 
beginning of the war her views were fairly cosmopolitan. 
Now she too has to be most guarded, not only for her 
husband's sake, but for her daughter, who has become 
engaged to Baron Stumm, a rising member of the Foreign 
Office. 

Countess Tattenbach then joined us. She is a 
Bavarian and, like all who are not Prussians, somewhat 
critical of the ultra-Prussian ! I always try to tease her, 
and so get her off her guard and hear her say unpatriotic 
things. A sure method is to say or even imply that 
Germany forced Austria to declare war against her 
better judgment. This time I tried quite a new tack. 
I said : "I hear that negotiations are going on between 



ii6 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

England and Austria for a separate peace," and I produced 
the Morning Post of February 8. 

This remark caught hke wildfire, and all immediately 
set off on that topic in the most animated and heated 
manner. 

Princess Metternich, Prince Bismarck, Countess Dohna, 
Baroness Sternburg, Mrs. J. Lay, and Mrs. Grew then 
came in by degrees, and we had to keep clear of war until 
the party was over. 

That same evening when my husband and I were 
dawdling over the evening papers before dressing for 
dinner. Prince Alfred Salm, Prince Miinster, and Count 
Magnis all looked in at separate intervals on " their way 
up to dress." They had all three just returned from the 
Herrenhaus and had news to tell us that was a great 
deal more interesting than all the women's gossip of the 
afternoon, the most important being that Germany is 
growing weary of being humbugged by America, who is 
making her terms more and more difficult for Germany 
to accept, and that the Herrenhaus, the Military, but 
above all the People, are beginning to tire of it, and want 
Germany to declare war on America, instead of waiting 
for them to go on " haggling about terms." 

The Foreign Office, they said, had — figuratively — 
gone down on their knees to implore them not to make 
such an appalhng error as to break with America. Peace 
must be maintained with America, they say, at any price I 
The military authorities do not see this ; they are still of 
opinion that " Right is Might." 

We have a sure sign of impending trouble with America, 
for the " Stormy Petrel " has reappeared. This is the 
nickname given by us all to Mr. Morgan, the American 
Consul at Hamburg ; for at the most crucial moments 
of the American crisis he always turns up suddenly, and 
to-day — ^well, I came up in the lift with him ! 

Berlin, February 1916. — One daily hears stories which 
show the weariness of killing on both sides. A youth. 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1916 117 

just home on leave for the first time, was telling his 
sister the other day his experience. He had been out 
since the beginning and had been on every front in turns, 
but he says his time in Belgium at the very beginning 
was the most fearful of all, and the franc-tireur' s warfare 
the most ghastly part of it. 

One night, when they were just settling down to sleep 
after a hard day's march, they were ordered out to take 
a village where the inhabitants were supposed to have 
been shooting on the troops. No very definite inquiries 
were made as to the truth of these statements, but for 
safety's sake it was thought best to burn the village. 
And so these young officers were given the order to march 
into it in the middle of the night, and to kill every one they 
met in a house with a light in the window. In the first 
house which he entered with his men they met a woman 
coming down the stairs. They had to carry out their 
orders, and killed this woman, and so on throughout. 
Next morning a hundred men were brought out, and the 
order was to stand them against the village walls and 
shoot every tenth man. 

The wives, the mothers, all the women of the village 
were there imploring mercy, but no mercy was allowed 
to be shown. These men, who were not even permitted 
to be blindfolded, were shot before the eyes of their 
womenfolk. 

And this boy returns to his family to " enjoy " his 
few days' leave, and his family are disappointed that he 
does not seem to enjoy it, that he seems preoccupied, 
that the things that used to amuse him now no longer 
seem to interest him. 

Berlin, March 5, 1916. — Here we are in March, and 
in ordinary times we should be rejoicing that winter is 
nearly over and spring coming, but now one feels nothing 
but dread, for it means that the armies will come out 
of their winter quarters and slaughter will begin once 
more. 



ii8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

March 2 has become a real nightmare with me, it 
being the date of the opening of the new submarine 
campaign. The description I have heard of the large 
German submarines makes me tremble. So confident 
are the Germans of their success that they say they can 
even bear the brunt of battle with America, for they are 
strong enough to cross the ocean and return in safety. 
Many are even hoping for war with America, so that 
they need exercise no consideration, but torpedo every 
single thing on the sea without discrimination or warning. 
Shocks are in store for us all, I fear. One cannot pretend 
indifference. 

Verdun is the chief subject of interest at present, and 
in Germany it is now looked upon as hkely to be one of 
the decisive victories of the war. They say it is only a 
matter of a few days before the whole fortress is taken, 
and that the terrific losses among the French fill even 
them with horror. Whereas on the other hand one reads 
in the Enghsh papers " that the Verdun attack has been 
a failure." 

Ossip Schubin the novelist (she is a Bohemian, with 
all the Bohemian hatred of the Germans and Hungarians) 
told me a terrible story. Some Bohemian soldiers were 
ordered to enter a Serbian village and shoot all the 
inhabitants, including the women and children. They 
tried to refuse, but a second detachment was called up 
to urge them on at the point of the bayonet. The 
heutenant who had to carry out this order went out of 
his mind at the horror of it. The soldiers then turned 
on the captain and shot him, saying, " Do your dirty 
work yourself." 

That reminds me of another episode, equally horrible. 
There are a number of Austrian Serbians, that is to 
say, Serbs who have become Austrians by migrating 
into Croatian territory. Now, as Austrian subjects, 
they have been called upon to fight against their own 



BERLIN, MARCH 1916 119 

race. One day, in a house where they were quartered, 
they assembled in a room — sixteen of them — to discuss 
the matter. An Austrian heard them say that it was a 
hard job for them, and the sixteen were shot to a man ! 
... Is this not the reign of terror ? 

Mr. Dresel, an American friend of mine, has been to 
visit the Bavarian prison camps, and tells me that the 
prisoners are much better off now than at first. One 
commandant told him that he knew how well the German 
prisoners were being treated in England, and so they 
were trying to do the same here. 

I feel very proud, because he told me that all the 
officers asked after me and sent me messages. There is 
quite an amount of freedom allowed them. They go 
into the town and to a gymnasium there, and the German 
and English officers have grown quite friendly towards 
one another and say it is about time both countries made 
concessions. I asked him if he had been allowed to see 
them alone, and he told me there were now new rules 
permitting them to go for a walk with any of them 
singly, if they wish. 

He had gone out with one or two, " but," he said, 
" you know what the English are ; it is a long time before 
you can get an Enghshman's confidence. If you do get 
it, you get it for ever, but they are reticent and dignified. 
You can't get an Englishman to complain ! " 

It is good to hear that, isn't it ? It isn't that I don't 
know it, but I love people to tell it me. Mr. Dresel told 
me he noticed a new class of men getting into the English 
army now — rankers that have risen. 

We lunched at Count Moltke's yesterday. He is the 
Danish Minister. The Jacksons were there and several 
other Americans ; we were about thirty in all. The 
tension between Germany and America is so great now 
that no one dared venture on the subject at all, even at 
a so-called neutral party like this. 



I20 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Berlin, March lo, 1916. — There is great political news 
this week. Admiral Tirpitz is going — he has sent in his 
resignation and it has been accepted. Out of all the 
obscurity one thing appears to be certain, viz. that there 
are two parties, one headed by Tirpitz and his friends, 
the other apparently by Bethmann-HoUweg and the 
Emperor. I want the Emperor to get his due in this 
matter at least. He has long been against these very 
drastic measures, and does all he can, it seems to me, to 
prevent any avoidable cruelty. Now too it is distinctly 
difficult for him, and many say he is actually jeopardizing 
his throne ; for Tirpitz has Biilow with him, and they 
are both strong men with many friends. Of course Tirpitz 
is being regretted by every one officially, as he is looked 
on as the maker of the German fleet and the creator of 
the modern submarine, which he has always regarded as 
the only effective weapon for modem naval warfare. 

The military and naval authorities are furious, with 
the Foreign Office, and call them half-hearted ; but their 
reply is that one must take into account the position of 
Germany after the war. The Foreign Office also says 
that submarine warfare has not been a success from the 
beginning, and that England was not in the least on the 
way to being " starved out " after the first submarine 
blockade. To accomplish this they would have needed 
at least 200 submarines, sufficient to form a chain round 
England ; and then if England had invented something 
to break the chain, as she has actually done, the enormous 
expense and sacrifice would all have been in vain. 

I think a good deal of the Foreign Office. They seem 
to me to be smoothing things down, and will do much 
towards a better understanding between Germany and 
other peoples. As for Tirpitz, they say his fury is in- 
describable. They gave out as the reason for his retire- 
ment that he had broken down and needed rest ; so he 
walked with his wife up and down the WiUiehn Strasse 
for two hours to prove to the crowd that it was not true, 
but that he was in the best of health. The next day he 



BERLIN, MARCH 1916 121 

appeared in tall hat and frock coat, to show that he had 
been " deprived of his uniform " (or rather to let the 
people think he had), and talked to his wife in a loud 
voice so that the crowd should be able to hear, and even 
addressed them. If this is true it points to trouble. It 
is a little as though Tirpitz and Biilow were trying to 
threaten the Emperor. 

I hear that the Emperor went to Verdun to see how 
things were going, and saw a whole company of men 
blown up by a French mine. The sight was so terrible 
that he had a nervous shock and has been ill since. 

We met old Zeppelin at a party the other night. He 
looks a dear old man. They say he flies over Munich 
and drops flowers on to the heads of the people below ! 
A lady said she would not rehsh bombs dropped instead 
of flowers. " Oh," said ZeppeUn, " I am sure I wish I 
could always drop flowers." 

Berlin, March 12, 1916. — ^There is great excitement 
here to-day about the Move, and the Commander, Count 
Dohna, whom we know well, has just arrived back and 
is staying at this hotel. 

He is much feted, he has recieived the " pour le merite," 
and looks splendid, just like an English officer. It is 
interesting to watch how proud they all are of him, from 
the hft boy upwards ! 

Both the steamers that conveyed Prince Salm home — 
the Malojah and the Mecklenburg — ^have been sunk by 
him. One took the Prince to Tilbury and the other to 
HoUand. No wonder Prince Sahn noticed that all the 
men had life-belts slung over their shoulders ! 

Some one came in to-day and told me that there is a 
so-caUed " cripple brigade " near Verdun. Men that have 
lost a finger, or who are disfigured but able-bodied, are 
used at the front again for odd jobs of one kind or another. 
This " cripple brigade " had the sad task of burying 4000 



122 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

corpses outside Verdun ! Some of them go out with the 
feehng that as they are not much more use, they may as 
well be shot dead out there. Poor fellows, it is so tragic ! 

Berlin, March 14, 1916, — I have been in bed with 
what people say is influenza, but I feel inclined to call it 
" Ersatz " illness. Every one is feehng ill from too many 
chemicals in the hotel food. I don't beheve that Germany 
will ever be starved out, but she will be poisoned out 
first with these substitutes ! 

Just as I write this, some one comes in from household 
shopping, a thing I never have to do, being in a hotel. 
She looks quite unhappy, and says that really England 
is succeeding, as food is getting so dreadfully scarce. 
Her butcher told her that he is seriously thinking of 
closing down. She could get no potatoes, no sugar even. 
The shopkeepers told her that the soldiers don't get 
meat more than three times a week now, and even 
vegetables are scarce ! 

Then again one hears that so much is due to over- 
organization. The "Magistrat" forbids the seUing of 
butter, sugar, etc., until all has been bought up and 
distributed equally and justly. In the meantime masses 
of butter and other stuffs get spoilt. So, they say, the 
BoUe dairy gave their butter to a big soap factory for 
the making of soap, as the butter had got bad through 
lying by so long, and in this way it was not entirely 
wasted. And potatoes and such-hke lie by waiting to be 
bought up, and the poor clamour for food. It is all 
terrible, and what it is going to lead to no one knows. 

My husband has just returned from a journey to 
Vienna. He stayed there a week and saw the " whole 
of Austria," so to say, in that short time. The chief 
topic there, he told me, is the hatred of Italy — the 
smart thing is to go to the Itahan Front. The hatred of 
Russia is not great enough to call forth any enthusiasm 
on that side. 



BERLIN, MARCH 1916 123 

The other topic is criticism of their ally — Germany. 
There does not seem to be any love lost between those 
two allies, and they say that Turkey too is getting restive 
and tired of the whole thing. Erzerum was a very hard 
blow to the Turks, and they do not appreciate being left 
to their own resources. This I heard from the former 
Turkish Ambassadress, who lives here. 

Prince Ernst Giinther (Duke of Schleswig-Holstein 
and brother to the Empress) sat next to me at dinner 
the other night — ^we were dining with Count and Countess 
Colloredo. He told me of his experiences at the 
Western Front. It was he who picked up Captain Ivan 
Hay and drove him in his car to his destination, a prison 
camp. They could not help laughing at the fact that, 
had there been no war, they would have met that very 
month shooting in Silesia, as guests of Prince Pless. 

He just missed seeing the Duchess of Sutherland when 
she was nursing in Brussels. He said they were very old 
friends, and he would have hked to see her in her capacity 
of nurse. He gave directions for her to receive special 
treatment and every possible attention, but did not know 
if these orders had been carried out. 

Once, too, he nearly came face to face with his cousin 
and great friend. Count Gleichen, a relation through the 
Hohenlohes. They were in command on opposite sides 
and quite a few miles within sight of each other. 

Poor Prince Ernst Giinther spoke so sadly of all the 
friendships with his relations in England being cut off. 
He said : " One feels it, when those whom one has looked 
upon as intimate friends speak openly of their hatred of 
one's relations. How could Lord Charles Beresford say 
of my brother-in-law : ' The head of the assassin, 
William the Kaiser, should be hung from the highest tree 
in Potsdam as just retribution for aU his cold-blooded 
murders ' ? Do you think in your heart that a man like 
Lord Charles really and truly believes that the Emperor 
is personally responsible ? I can understand the people 



124 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

still thinking that kings are all-powerful, but surely no 
one else does." 

I murmured some inane reply, for what could I say ? 
But I should have loved to quote the words my husband 
used some days ago : " All governments nowadays are 
pacifists naturally, but frightened of their own peoples. 
Monarchs and governments are Kterally shaking in their 
shoes for fear of what the people will do, who have been 
called upon to make such superhuman sacrifices. The 
Emperor is the only monarch who did assert his authority, 
even until half-way through the war, though even he 
cannot do so any longer ; but as he was the only one 
who ever could do so he is now blamed for all." 

By the way, it was amusing to see Prince Ernst 
Giinther take his " bread card " from his pocket and put 
it on the table beside him. It showed how deeply what 
the French call the " discipline de I'appetit " has sunk 
into the heart of the nation ! 

Berlin, March 19 16. — Here are some extracts from a 
private document, supposed to be a true account of the 
state of England and Enghsh feeUng at the time (January 
1916), compiled by a so-called neutral, but in reahty a 
German, who obtained a passport and went over to 
England for the purpose. 

His foremost impression was that it is the people 
who are now keeping on the war, in spite of the Govern- 
ment being fully ripe for peace overtures. The latter 
have lost control of the nation, and are simply tools in 
their hands. 

Goethe's well-known verse : 

Die Geister die du riefest, die wirst du nicht mehr los, 

may be aptly applied here. 

Lord Derby is the hero of the hour, his working of the 
conscription question having made a great impression 
for the time being. They say he was very sceptical 
himself at first as to the results. 



BERLIN, MARCH 1916 125 

Sir Edward Grey, like so many of the responsible 
men in the history of the war, is not strong enough to 
face the stem and immeasurable actuaUties which now 
confront him. Some say he is only a puppet moved by 
stronger and more unscrupulous wills. He is said to 
believe in the possibiUty of an eventual understanding 
with Germany, although here he is almost the most 
unpopular Englishman ahve. 

His position is growing more and more untenable, 
as the people are in such a state of inimical excitement 
that anything smacking of leniency towards Germany is 
looked upon as un-English and treacherous. 

A parallel might be drawn between his case and that 
of Bethmann-HoUweg here in Germany, who is being 
almost as impatiently and thoughtlessly criticized as Grey 
in England. 

The Cabinet of twenty-two seems to be the object 
of an increasing disUke and aversion on the part of the 
people, who are expressing their opinions more forcibly 
and less refinedly every day. " You have led us into 
the mess, now pull us out again ! " I can imagine how 
gladly the " 22 " would pull them out if they only knew 
how. It certainly is easier to get stuck in the mire than 
to get out of it again. 

Lord Kitchener, the " butcher of Omdurman," as he 
is usually called here, has lost prestige on both sides of 
the North Sea. Those small affairs which he was formerly 
engaged in must have been hke playing at war compared 
to this world conflict. 

The pacifists, it is said, meet with small regard on 
the part of the people, and tend more to excite the 
belligerent instincts of the " great unwashed " than to 
pacify them. I could imagine that open-air meetings of 
the pacifists, systematically arranged all over England, 
would be the best means possible for winning over the 
people, including " conscientious objectors," to accept 
compulsory service. 

John Bull, reborn as St. George, radiant and beautiful 



126 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

in shining armour, goes out to destroy the venomous 
dragon of " German militarism " by force of arms, and 
one of the hugest jokes of history is exhibited to the 
astonished world ! 

The names of Sir Aldyn (sic), Morley, Bryce, as well 
as Mclver, Middleton, Lorebourne {sic), Aberdeen, Glad- 
stone, Beecham {sic), and Charles Mosterman {sic), are 
mentioned as leaders in the pacifist movement ! 

The most popular figure, says the report, is Lloyd 
George, the munition-man, who has donned the mask of 
a ferocious man of war, harangiing the masses, and 
assiduously providing food for the iion beasts of war, all 
for the sake of his own private ambitions. 

Bonar Law is described as being a connecting link 
between the fanatical Unionists, who are clamouring for 
a general election, and the much harried ParHament, 
who, in their reverential awe of themselves as divine 
instruments for working out England's salvation, are 
still glad enough to cUng to his strong personality, as a 
middleman in the dizzy whirl of events. 

Will there be a general election or not ? is said to be 
the burning question of the day. Should a new Govern- 
ment come in, we may expect the war to last another 
twenty years, which may the gods forbid. 

I have heard the reason why such a huge number of 
un wounded prisoners were taken at Verdun. It was 
because they were rendered senseless by a new gas bomb 
invention. I was pleased at what seemed to me quite a 
humane use of this terrible gas, but I was soon dis- 
illusioned. I was told that the same thing had been 
done a little while before with 700 men, but a day later 
only 100 were still alive ; the 600 had died from the after- 
effects of this gas — their lungs had shrivelled up and pre- 
vented breathing, so suffocation had set in and killed them ! 

The people continue to be very restless ; I hear that 
in other towns they have resorted to energetic measures 



BERLIN, APRIL 1916 127 

for getting more food. In Cologne the mayor had to 
unlock the market twice in the middle of the night ; 
once they hung a dead cat before his door, with the 
eyes gouged out, and an intimation that that would be 
his fate if he did not look after the people better. They 
also tried to mob the Town Council when sitting. The 
peasants now jeer at the town-breds, who have to spread 
their bread with Kunsthonig (artificial honey), while 
they, the peasants, have a thick layer of their own butter 
and a slab of ham on top ! 

My sister-in-law in Bonn gives a description of dis- 
turbances much in the style of those in Cologne. She 
says : " Yesterday there was a fearful mob and a fight in 
the Rathausstrasse for lard. It was the day for waiting 
outside the stores for this article ; the town provides it 
for the people on certain days, and who arrives first is 
first served. A carriage with rich people in it drove up, 
and the inmates were served before the others, which 
caused a riot. The policemen had to use their swords, 
for the crowd nearly Ijmched them. The mob broke the 
windows of the police station." 

Berlin, April 1916. — Last night we dined at Baron 
von Jagow's and met the Dutch Minister and his wife, 
M. and Mme. Gevers. 

As a change from the everlasting American crisis, 
which is becoming monotonous, a Dutch crisis had just 
sprung up ; so it behoved us to avoid politics, and we 
crept delicately round the thin ice of the dangerous 
topics which were on the tip of our tongues. 

It seems that England has just been proved to have 
sunk a Dutch merchantman, and is adopting a somewhat 
threatening attitude towards the neutrahty of Holland ; 
which is all very weU in its way, but a Dutch neutrahty 
in favour of England would be so very much better, seen 
through insular spectacles. 

We were again struck by the difference between Eng- 
land's and Germany's diplomacy. If Germany happens 



128 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

to sink a ship, protected by American guardian-angels, 
the whole world knows of it at once, and the inevitable 
crisis springs up. If England, on the contrary, sinks a 
ship belonging to one of the long-suffering neutrals, by 
mistake, the matter is hushed up at once, and only some 
obscure notice of it appears in a Ust of shipping casualties, 
and the regrettable accident is lost to sight. 

English diplomacy is certainly marvellous. The Ger- 
mans call it by other names sometimes, not very nice 
ones, but would give a good deal if they themselves could 
catch the knack of it. 

The practical, hard, matter-of-fact " uprightness " and 
" downrightness " of the Prussian character in general 
misses those finer hghts and shades of what is generally 
known as tactfulness, and in its exaggerated form often 
leads to the virtue (or vice, as you take it) of a somewhat 
blundering form of diplomacy since the giant Bismarck 
resigned his post of steering the ship of Germany through 
the stormy seas of history. 

A few days later we lunched with Dr. Solf , the Colonial 
Minister. Herr von Zimmermann, the Under Secretary 
of State, was there too. The pohcy of these two men 
is to refrain from taking any part in the war of abuse 
carried on by the Press against England, in wise fore- 
thought of the critical colonial question for Germany in 
the future. 

Dr. Solf is one of those clear-seeing men who under- 
stand how complicated every phase of the struggle 
becomes through the vindictive vituperation of the Press. 
For this reason he is himself very much abused by certain 
members of the military party. For men like Kessler 
and Falkenhayn the sword is the only solution possible, 
and all methods of a milder nature are regarded as signs 
of effeminate weakness. 

A friend told me that the Kaiser is practically kept 
under supervision by men like Falkenhayn, who never 
allows any one to speak to him alone, he always being 



BERLIN, APRIL 1916 129 

present at every audience. Prince Miinster tried to do 
so in vain. They are afraid of the Kaiser's kind heart. 
At dinner one night the Kaiser said to Prince Miinster : 

" Miinster, I have had a letter from Lady , asking 

me to find out where her missing nephews are." A peal 
of scornful laughter arose from the other guests at table. 
A German Kaiser, they said, had other work to do than 
to search for missing English officers. The Kaiser re- 
mained silent, but on rising from the table asked Prince 
Miinster to try and get some news for Lady O . 

The other day an article appeared in one of the daily 
Berlin papers, entitled " Enghsche Krankheit,'* and warn- 
ing men in high positions not to allow themselves to 
be influenced by English women who are married to 
Germans, " as English women seem to have a dangerous 
knack of getting the men to look at things from their point 
of view." 

Of course, every one here is wondering which of us 
is meant, and we are ourselves very much amused at this 
candid homage to the fascinating powers of English 
women, in spite of their being so often condemned as 
utterly under-educated from the German schoolmaster 
point of view. It is in any case not very complimentary 
to German women. 

The fall of Tirpitz has been ascribed in some quarters 
to Princess Pless's influence over the Kaiser, on the 
ground that she had talked him over into using less 
drastic measures towards the Enghsh. 

This is, of course, nonsense, as Princess Pless has never 
seen the Kaiser alone since the beginning of the war. 
And as for her being admitted to Headquarters because 
she is English, that is another ridiculous exaggeration. 
She was once at Headquarters, it is true, but as they 
happened to have settled them at her own house, they 
could not really turn her away. She had, however, to 
keep entirely to her own apartments, and had no inter- 
course with the Staff at all. 

K 



I30 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Berlin, April 4, 1916. — I was suddenly rung up on 
the telephone by Sir Roger Casement, saying he must 
see me at once. I was somewhat surprised, as I thought 
he was ill in bed at Munich. He was, a few days ago, 
when we heard of him last. 

However, although I was not keen on seeing him, I 
telephoned back to say that I would do so for a few 
minutes. Little did I think what a scene was before me. 

The poor man came into the room Uke one demented, 
talked in a husky whisper, rushed round examining all 
the doors, and then said : "I have something to say to 
you, are you sure no one is listening ? " 

For one moment I was frightened. I felt I was in 
the presence of a madman, and worked my way round 
to sit near the telephone so as to be able to call for help. 
And then he began : " You were right a year ago when 
you told me that I had put my head into a noose in 
coming here. I have tried not to own you were right, 
and I did not like to tell you when you kept on urging 
me to get out of the country, that I realised from the 
moment I landed here what a terrific mistake I had made. 
And also I did not want to tell you that in reaUty I was 
a prisoner here. I could not get away. They wiU not let 
me out of the country. 

" The German Foreign Office have had me shadowed, 
believing I was a spy in the pay of England, and England 
has had men spying on me all the time as well. 

" Now the German Admiralty have asked me to go 
on an errand which all my being revolts against, and I 
am going mad at the thought of it, for it will make me 
appear a traitor to the Irish cause." 

And at these words he sat down and sobbed like a 
child. I saw the man was beside himself with terror 
and grief, and so I tried to get a few more definite facts 
out of him, and told him there is a way out of every 
difficulty if he would only tell me more. 

But he said, " If I told you more, it would endanger 
the lives of many, and as it is, it is only my life that has 



BERLIN, APRIL 1916 131 

to be sacrificed." I made all sorts of suggestions, but 
all he would say was : " They are holding a pistol to my 
head here if I refuse, and they have a hangman's rope 
ready for me in England ; and so the only thing for me 
to do is to go out and kill myself." 

I argued him out of this, and at last he went away 
after giving me a bundle of farewell letters to be opened 
after his death. As he went out of the door, he said : 
" Tell them I was loyal to Ireland, although it will not 
appear so." 

He asked to see me again, but as I am watched like 
every one else here, and as there was evidently some 
political intrigue on, I had to refuse. 

Berlin, April 1916, — Last Sunday we lunched with 
Prince and Princess Christian of Hesse (Barchfeld), and 
there we met the great Count Dohna, of Move fame, 
and I had an opportunity of speaking to him for the first 
time. 

He is a very nice man, and quite hke an EngUsh 
naval officer. He told me many interesting things about 
his trip, but of course not as much as I wanted to know. 

The one thing we are always trying to find out is 
where he coaled during the voyage. It is a great mystery 
and no one knows, not even his own sailors on board. 
They stopped to take in coal at some port, and it must 
have been Ireland or Scotland or somewhere where they 
were taken for English sailors. 

I asked him if he had seen English Dreadnoughts, and 
he said he had seen the smoke of some, but that he was 
not going to tell me a word more, and that he had seen 
Scotland ; but how much of Scotland he had seen he 
also said he must leave to my imagination. 

He so simply described his surprise at finding himself 
a public hero on his return. He had no idea, he said, 
that his adventure would have taken the pubhc in the 
way it had done. And he told me his unmarried sister 
was still more surprised. She went one evening to a 



132 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

theatre in Frankfort, unknown and a nonentity, and 
came out a heroine, as in the middle of the play it was 
suddenly stopped and the manager came out and 
announced the news of the wonderful feat of the Move, 
and the ovation was so intense that the play could not 
be finished. No one was more surprised than this sister 
of his, as she did not even know that her brother was 
Commander of the Move. I was glad to think that this 
young officer, hke Captain Miiller of the Emden, had 
behaved as a true sailor and a gentleman in all his actions 
with us. If the submarine commanders had done the 
same, what a difference it would have made to Germany's 
reputation throughout the world. As it is, generations 
wiU hardly suffice to wipe out the memory of her piratical 
deeds at sea. 

At this limcheon party also was Prince Lippe, one of 
the reigning Princes. Such a nice, simple man. He told 
me much about his time spent on the West Front with 
the English opposite them for months, and said that 
such a friendly feeling had grown up among them aU 
that they and the Enghsh used to exchange hot coffee 
and cigarettes and books to read in the trenches. For 
weeks the trenches were only seventeen yards apart, and 
they could hear the conversations in each other's trench 
quite plainly. 

He, Hke Prince Lowenstein, was one of those who had 
been so good about trying to get news of missing English 
officers, and identifying the graves, and getting news of 
the wounded in the hospitals at the front. And he said 
that his only disappointment was the very httle consoling 
news he had managed to obtain for the relations. 

While on this subject I feel I owe a special word of 
gratitude to Prince Lowenstein, who was on Prince 
Rupprecht of Bavaria's Staff, as he was the means of 
procuring many comforts and concessions for some of 
the English officers during that trying period between 
the time they were captured and the time they reached 
their prison camp. As this has, through all inquiries. 



BERLIN, APRIL 1916 133 

proved to be the time when most of the ill-treatment is 
said to have occurred, one realizes that any one who 
would be the intermediary at such a time deserves thanks. 
Prince Lowenstein, who can speak EngHsh perfectly, and 
perhaps has spent more time in England than some of the 
captured officers themselves, who may only have landed 
there once on the route from Canada or Australia, was able 
to give the captives a hint or two which helped to soften 
things. For instance, on one occasion when he offered 
a newly captured officer some food, the young English- 
man (straight from Canada) stood with his hands in his 
pockets and a huge pipe in his mouth, and simply grunted 
a reply. Prince Lowenstein quietly said to him : "As 
you are on your way to Germany, and may have to be 
there for some time, I should Hke to give you some advice 
which may help to ease your time of captivity, and that 
is, when addressed by a superior officer, if you took your 
pipe out of your mouth and your hands out of your 
pockets, you would be more likely to be well treated than 
if you do as you are doing now, because our customs 
differ in that respect perhaps from those of your country." 

Berlin, April 28, 1916. — I wonder if my friends in 
England can see the sky as blue as it is here, the sun as 
bright, and the green (of the Tiergarten just roimd the 
comer) so intense. The green this year seems so bright 
that, in spite of the wonderful spring-like beauty, it 
strikes me as out of tune and out of place. 

Sometimes I seem suddenly to notice the greenness 
and the sun, and I wonder that it can be spring once 
more — ^that the winter is really over, and yet the warmth 
has not begun to melt the hearts of those makers of 
history — those monarchs and ministers that still think it 
necessary to send hundreds of men each day to their 
deaths. 

I have not yet said anything about Asquith's answer 
to Bethmann-HoUweg's long tirade. How the people 



134 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

here waited for that speech of Bethmann-Hollweg. There 
was a gasp of expectation running through the popula- 
tion. When it came people shrugged their shoulders and 
said : " We hoped he would say more." 

Then came Asquith's answer, and the nation rose in 
indignation. " What did he mean by the crushing of 
Prussian miUtarism ? Could he not have answered 
Bethmann-Hollweg's words in a different way ? " 

A defence of the latter immediately commenced, and 
England of course is blamed once more as the arch- 
enemy. 

But how can the Allies destroy militarism ? They 
cannot beat Germany to such an extent. It is from 
within alone that this militarism can be shaken. The 
Allies may say that without their efforts the people of 
Germany could never be brought to an understanding of 
their military government. But however that may be, 
it is only the German people who can destroy it and who 
will destroy it slowly, for they get wearier and wearier, 
from day to day. 

A good example of the mismanagement of affairs 
which causes so much discontent, is the following. When 
paraffin oil became scarce people who had to work by 
lamp -light were encouraged to use methylated spirit. 
Most of the poorer classes went to the expense of getting 
their lamps arranged for this purpose. Now they do 
not even see the word " Ausverkauft " for methylated 
spirit, but are simply told that all of it has been confis- 
cated by the Government for military purposes. 

Materials — woollen and cotton — are supposed to be 
getting scarce. Ladies will wear skirts of five to six yards 
in width. Officialdom does not go so far as to forbid this, 
but lays a hand of iron on the working-class by ordering 
every dressmaker who employs more than one hired 
worker to report to the poUce, who thenceforth control 
her expenses and receipts, etc., allowing her but a certain 
percentage of profit and a certain number of hours for 



BERLIN, MAY 1916 135 

work, so that she cannot use up too much of this precious 
cotton and woollen material. 

Was Bismarck right in saying that officialdom in 
Germany would end by stifling Germany with its own 
weight ? 

And yet there is a humorous side to the whole thing. 
If we want soap we can get 100 grams a month ; but 
only if we present our bread ticket. I read an amusing 
tale of a child who was sent to buy 50 grams with her 
bread ticket. She came home with it ; it was a bit 
dark. Her mother put some precious butter and even 
meat sausage on it ! When her husband proceeded to 
partake of it, lo and behold it was 50 grams of soap the 
child had brought instead of bread ! 

Berlin, May 1916. — On returning to BerUn after a 
peaceful Easter spent with Princess Miinster in Demeburg, 
we were horrified to find the streets surrounding our 
hotel in a great state of excitement. The hotel even 
seemed to be in a state of siege, being surrounded by a 
cordon of poHce and a rather threatening-looking mob, 
who, it seemed, had already stolen the bread suppUes 
for the hotel, evidently supposing that we were Hving 
in a superabundance of luxuries, whilst they were wanting 
in everything. As a matter of fact, our supply of bread 
is hmited to the same allowance as every one else's in 
Germany, 1900 grms. a week, including 400 grms. of 
flour. 

It was in fact the " red " May ist, and a few turbulent 
Sociahsts had tried to get up a passing agitation to 
celebrate their day in the usual manner, on which occasion 
Liebknecht, the notorious quarreller in Parhament, was 
arrested for attempting to disturb the pubhc peace, and 
is now safely under lock and key. 

May was decidedly in the sign of general discontent 
and complaints at every one and everything. The barest 
necessaries of fife were wanting, and many people kept 
Easter in the face of an empty larder. 



136 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

The unexpected duration of the war has led to unfore- 
seen comphcations in the economic administration, so 
that all sorts of changes are taking place in the Board of 
Provisions; added to which the keeping back of food- 
suppUes by speculators for the purpose of demanding 
exorbitant prices reached such a chmax, that it almost 
seemed as if a revolution on a small scale were threatening 
in Berhn, 

The butchers' shops were closed for two to three 
weeks on set prices being denominated by Government 
for meat ; vegetables were not to be had ; butter almost 
unknown ; whilst soap had become so scarce that regu- 
lations were enforced forbidding white dresses to be worn 
in some parts of Germany. Every one is now allowed 
I lb. of soap for washing purposes a month, and lOO grms. 
of toilet soap extra. 

Long processions of women waiting for hours before 
the butchers', grocers', and bakers' shops were to be seen 
ever5rwhere, and gave rise to the name of the " butter- 
polonaise." These women often got up in the middle 
of the night, to be first on the scene, and took camp- 
stools with them, working or knitting, and seemed rather 
to enjoy this opportunity of unlimited gossiping, evil 
tongues said. One industrious woman was even said 
to have taken her sewing machine with her ! 

Things have since grown better. Delbriick, the 
much worried Secretary of State, who with seventy- 
five Privy Councillors managed (or mismanaged, as his 
opponents say) the organization of the food-supphes in 
Prussia, grew sick with the weight of his responsibilities 
and resigned his onerous post, and in his place a dictator- 
ship of three tried men has been placed, who are cour- 
ageously commencing the struggle with the existing lack 
of everything. 

Our daily rations are at present : ^ lb. of sugar, 
^ lb. of meat or lard, i lb. of potatoes, with loo grms. 
of butter per head weekly. Eggs are hardly to be had, 
two companies having bought them aU up in the province 



BERLIN, MAY 1916 137 

of Brandenburg, and they cost 32 to 30 Pf. apiece, if 
available at all. 

We can hardly complain of starvation, but the whole 
population is being under-fed, which of course, in the 
long run, means a deterioration of physical and mental 
forces in all classes. 

The German answer to the American Note was just 
pending, and we found Mr. Gerard, the Ambassador, 
and all our friends practically sitting on their boxes 
waiting to leave at a moment's notice, should a rupture 
take place between the two countries. 

The answer of the German Government was a relief 
to the greater part of the population, who are intensely 
anxious to avoid any further complications. For the 
time being the dispute has been laid, who knows for 
how long ? 

In Silesia we heard of an old Latin sajdng mentioned 
by a CathoUc priest, which is especially applicable for 
this year : 

Si Marcus pascham dabit 

Et Joannes Christum adorabit 

Totus mundus vae 1 clamabit ; 

which, being translated, means : " When St. Mark's day 
falls in the Easter week, and St. John's in the Octave 
of Whitsuntide, the whole world will wail and lament " 
— ^which is most certainly the case at present, when in 
addition to the losses of the past, the last precious goblet 
of the wine of life is being poured out at Verdun. Every 
one seems to be losing their last relations there. 

How right Kitchener was in his prophecy that the 
war would last three years, and how strangely short- 
sighted now seems the hght-hearted saying of the Kaiser 
to the troops in 1914 that they would be home again with 
their families before the leaves had fallen from the trees. 

I was not very much astonished when at Derneburg 



138 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

to hear the news of Sir Roger Casement's arrest on the 
west coast of Ireland, and of his being taken to the 
Tower by two armed constables, just at the time when 
Easter sight-seers were " doing " the place I But I hardly 
realized to what a disastrous end fate was leading him. 

Very little of the affair leaks through the censorship 
here. On the whole no one will say a good word for him. 
The Germans, who are not partial to traitors, even if 
they use them as tools, scoff at him as the impotent 
leader of a lost cause, and the Americans and other 
neutrals despise him, whilst the few English hate him. 

It is certain that the Germans in their own minds 
looked upon him as an EngUsh spy, and it was only when 
he happened to fall foul of a certain naval of&cer that they 
concocted their scheme of handing him back to England 
for England to do her dirty work herself. But between 
the time he was " handed back " and the time of his 
arrival in Germany, that is the time when I had the 
opportunity of seeing the man drink the cup of humilia- 
tion to the dregs, penniless and starving, friendless and 
hunted, should I have been a woman if I had not given 
him a meal at times, or on the last day, when he was 
going to a certain death, and came to me abject with 
terror and evidently out of his mind, could I have done 
less than promise to use what influence I had to ask 
for mercy for him ? With this object I have written to 
a friend in England, but have little real expectation 
that it will save him from his fate. 

Berlin, May 1916. — ^To our great astonishment we 
have been asked to undertake a little peace movement 
on our own account. They want me to write to the 
Duke of Norfolk, as the head of the Catholics in England, 
and find out if they are in any way associated with the 
Pope's well-known efforts for peace. 

In answer to my objection that my letter would prob- 
ably never pass the English censor, they replied that 
it would not go by post at all, but by special messenger. 



BERLIN. JUNE 1916 139 

and that I could see the very man who would person- 
ally place my letter on any writing-table in London — a 
curious proof of how the censor may be evaded. 

They actually seem to have succeeded moreover, for 
after I had with considerable qualms of conscience 
committed myself to the letter, a reply reached me in 
due course which I wiU not quote. It was of a very 
guarded nature, and threw grave doubts not only upon 
the prospects, but upon the expediency of peace at present. 

Berlin, June 1916. — This month began with such 
unusual excitement that I was quite stunned by the over- 
whelming nature of the catastrophe. A great naval 
battle — a great German victory ! People celebrating 
it with champagne, the streets gay with flags, church 
bells ringing, schools closed in honour of the event, and 
every one flushed with pride that at last the great day 
had come, when the German David should smite the 
English Goliath a deadly blow. 

The suspense was awful, as I could not at first get 
any Enghsh news which might contradict or supplement 
the triumphant German reports. I knew perfectly well 
in the depths of my heart that these were exaggerated, 
and that even if they had managed to do the British 
fleet a great deal of harm, they must have suffered 
enormous losses themselves. 

I think for those few days my soul must have visited 
England sometimes, for I experienced so keenly everything 
that must be going on there. I saw the thousands of 
anxious women besieging the Admiralty for news of 
husbands and sons, and the wave of disappointment 
which must have swept over the whole country at the 
news which the papers have since called " A great victory 
which the Admiralty announced Uke a defeat." 

All the naval men here were at once called back to 
Wilhelmshaven, and the Emperor hurried there too. 
They say that the sight of the procession of cofiins, dead 
bodies, and wounded being carried through the streets 



I40 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

was enough to suppress any feeling of rejoicing which 
may have been felt elsewhere. 

And then came the news from England, and I read 
that England regards the battle of Skager Rack as the 
most notable victory achieved since the battle of Trafalgar, 
which may have results only less momentous than 
Nelson's, and that the German fleet was chased back 
in disorderly retreat into its ports. 

England's losses seem irretrievable, including no less 
than 300 officers, and are said to be seventy per cent 
greater than those of Germany. Everywhere people 
are saying that the English Navy was in every way 
excelled by the German Navy, which is said to be the 
only one able to fire at full speed. The superior air- 
service, i.e. the scouting done by the ZeppeHns, helped 
them to play havoc with the enemy's ships. 

Kind friends who knew that I should be sorrowing 
in the midst of the universal rejoicing came to see me, 
such as Countess Henckel and Countess Tattenbach — 
women whose silent S5nnpathy does one much good in 
the midst of the derision and jeers of the mob. 

And then came the fresh shock of Kitchener's sudden 
death ; which is appalling and startling, coming as it 
does on the top of the naval victory. Here there are 
rumours of his having been kiUed in the great battle, 
but I suppose the Hampshire was really sunk by an 
English or Danish mine. 

This month brought a great scene in the Reichstag, 
when the Chancellor, Bethmann-Hollweg, at last stood 
up to his pohtical adversaries and revenged himself for 
aU the petty attacks of which he is so often the victim, 
by turning and rending them in a very fine speech. 

Since I wrote last, I have heard much more about the 
terrific naval battle of the Skager Rack. A German naval 
officer, who was in the midst of it, described it to a 
friend as " Hell in the sea and air." Dr. Ohnesorg and 
Mr. Dresel from the American Embassy have been down 



BERLIN, JUNE 1916 141 

to Mainz to see the saved English naval prisoners. 
Unfortunately they could not get much out of them. 
At some of the camps the Commanders refused to allow 
them to be spoken to, and at other places the EngUsh 
officers refused to speak. There certainly seems to be a 
mystery about the whole thing. Baron von Rath told 
us that his brother-in-law was chosen to conduct the 
English naval prisoners to their camps. He said they 
were very haughty, refusing to speak, or to give any 
information whatever. At last a happy thought struck 
him, and he told them that he was born in Scotland and 
lived there for some years ; then they began to thaw a 
bit. They entirely refused to believe that Lord Kitchener 
was dead, even when shown the German newspapers. 

A German friend remarked yesterday : " What I 
admire about the English is that they own to their mis- 
takes, and that is their strength." I should like to see 
Germany own up to their mistakes in the way Sir Ian 
Hamilton did in his Dardanelles dispatches, or Lord 
Beresford, when he criticized the naval battle. 

The account of Baron von Rath's brother-in-law of 
the battle at the Skager Rack is most interesting. He led 
the whole of the Destroyer Flotilla, and stood for fifty- 
seven hours on the bridge. One of his destroyers saved 
140 Englishmen (?). This is an interesting statement, as 
by Enghsh accounts the Germans ran away, and could 
not have saved an English crew during the battle. 

Count CoUoredo has just returned from Wilhelmshaven. 
He described having seen the whole fleet returning, and 
added that it was the most historic sight he had ever 
seen. He had aU sorts of interesting details to relate. 
One cruiser had rammed an EngHsh destroyer and the 
result was simply terrific, as the ship turned a somersault 
over them. He also remarked that the most impressive 
sight was the 32 English Dreadnoughts, which formed a 
kind of wall across the North Sea. They shot at a dis- 
tance of twenty miles away, and as they fired incessantly 



142 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

one after the other, it seemed to form a continual streak 
of hght — a most imposing sight to watch. 

Berlin, June 15, 1916. — At present nearly all the talk 
is about the Austrian reverse, which was quite unexpected. 
The Archduke and his staff had been thinking more of 
sport, whilst the Russians surrounded the Austrian army, 
and made 62,000 prisoners, which really means 120,000 
with dead and wounded. The Archduke has been sent 
away. As a consequence there is great gloom here, as 
German troops have to be sent out. 

I have just received messages from Captain R and 

Captain A , thanking me for having had one of them 

sent to Switzerland and the other to another camp. It 
is such a satisfaction to know that one has been able to 
do some little good in this way, and that it is appreciated. 
Soldiers on the whole are very grateful, and as I am on 
the subject I should like to relate a little story of a 
German wounded prisoner in England, who was so grate- 
ful to the nurse he had that when he returned home he 
could not praise her nursing and devotion sufficiently. 
He regretted after his recovery having had to fight against 
her countrymen. 

The dispute as to who gained and who lost the Jutland 
battle is keener than ever. The chief argument put forth 
by the Germans at present is, that they were the last to 
leave the zone of the battle, having remained to pick up 
the sinking and drowning sailors, as is proved by the 
number of English naval officers and men in their hands. 

Berlin, June 20, 1916. — ^There is a great depression 
over the Russian offensive and the evacuation of Czer- 
nowitz. The Germans have had to form two new army 
corps, to send to the aid of the Austrians, and the rather 
bad feeling between the two countries is not improving 
in consequence. What makes matters worse is, that 
the Austrians had to stop their offensive against the 



BERLIN, JUNE 1916 143 

Italians, and withdraw their best troops to send to the 
Bukowina. 

I think the bad feehng between the two alhes is in 
part owing to the great diversity of character. The 
Austrian soldiers are easy-going, especially the officers, 
and consequently there is a great want of discipline. A 
lady heard the other day at one of the stations here a 
conversation between an Austrian soldier and a civiUan, 
in which the former complained bitterly of the negUgence 
and indifference of his superior officers. 

The German and especially the Prussian soldier is per- 
haps not as sociable or agreeable as the Austrian, and 
might at times be somewhat of a martinet ; but on the 
other hand he has a great sense of duty, and practises 
the severe discipline not only on others but also on 
himself. 

But the present depression reigning here is in part 
owing to the worry over the food question, which is 
increasing daily. We were told the other day that the 
authorities intend closing the schools for three months, 
as they want to keep as many women and children as 
possible out of the towns on account of the food-supply. 
A great difficulty is the scarcity of fodder for the cattle, 
which means less milk and butter. One would expect 
that all this shortage would prove a very serious question 
in regard to the prisoners, but as a matter of fact they 
are really better off than we are, as " The Prisoners' Aid 
Society " sends 58,000 packages from England weekly to 
the prisoners, and 10,000 loaves of bread from Switzer- 
land. Each prisoner receives his package and loaf, and I 
must give the German authorities their due as to the 
proper dehvery of these parcels. 

The English Government sent an official inquiry as to 
some complaints they had received, and the answer proved 
that only one cigarette had been missing out of one box 
in one week ; and considering the number of parcels that 
come from England for the prisoners each week, it does 
not seem so bad. Mx. and Mrs. Lay have just returned 



144 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

from Switzerland, where they were able to see the bakeries, 
and also the loaves which are sent every week from there 
to the Enghsh prisoners. The flour is sent to them from 
England. Mr. Lay played golf with eleven different 
nationalities, and he said that the war-talk between them 
was pretty hvely at times, and that the war-talk here 
was child's play to their conversation, 

Krieblowitz, September 1916. — For some three months 
I have written nothing, for it has been my lot to be the 
centre-piece in such an unusual series of events, following 
so fast on one another, that I found neither leisure nor 
inclination to sit down and write any account of them, 
or of my own feelings. 

I had made up my mind to a quiet uneventful sojoufn 
for some weeks alone in Berhn, when suddenly, on July 8, 
an event occurred which changed the whole course of 
our destiny. My father-in-law was killed by a fall from 
his horse, during a sudden attack of giddiness, whilst out 
riding in the park at Krieblowitz. 

It is not easy to describe the difference which suddenly 
took place in our lives. After having existed for more 
than two years in a bed-sitting-room in a hotel, we all at 
once found ourselves in possession of several beautiful 
castles and estates, a palace in BerUn, and many rich 
acres of land in the country. In fact it aU seems rather 
like some new phase of the Arabian Nights, as by reason 
of the unusual relations existing between the members of 
the Bliicher family, we had not until now in any way 
shared in aU these desirable things, and it seemed almost 
magical to wake up one morning and find oneself the 
owner of them. 

The funeral of my father-in-law, which my husband 
attended, brought about a sort of reconciUation (or was 
intended to do so) between my stepmother-in-law and the 
other members of the family, then all meeting together 
at Krieblowitz for the first time for twenty-five years. 
On July 23 we ofiiciaUy left Berhn for Breslau, where 



KRIEBLOWITZ, SEPTEMBER 1916 145 

we stayed in the -Ballestrem Palace, which had been lent 
to us by Graf Ballestrem, until we could take up our 
residence in Krieblowitz, which was not made possible 
for us until September. 

Every one else seemed to be leaving the " Esplanade " 
at the same time, either going off to Switzerland or retir- 
ing to their country places, tired of the ever-increasing 
scarcity of food in Berlin ; and we shall probably never 
again reunite in the same manner as during the last two 
winters in Berhn, if only on account of this difficulty. 

On our at last taking formal possession on September 9 
of Krieblowitz (the estate presented by the nation to 
the old Marshal " Vorwarts "), we met with quite a 
solemn reception at the entrance to the castle, where all 
the household were assembled to greet us, each one 
presenting me with a bouquet of flowers ; while the 
officials, in frock coats and white gloves, each delivered 
a separate speech of welcome to me. The widow and 
her family met with a similar ovation in farewell, and 
departed, leaving us to settle down in earnest. 

It is impossible to describe all the beauties of my 
future home ; it is such a lovely old place, with its marble 
staircase and magnificent banquet-hall, its cloisters and 
vaulted arcades running round the castle, and the glorious 
views from the windows, over beautiful lakes and woods. 
And the people are so simple and natural in their kind 
way, with no display of bitterness or hatred towards the 
Enghsh nation ; only full of gratitude for every kind 
word offered them, and resigned submission to their own 
personal losses in the war, eighty men having gone from 
the village of Krieblowitz alone, of whom no small number 
have already fallen. 

The whole place was in deplorable need of repair ; 
painters and decorators took jjossession, and began laying 
on electric light, putting up bath-rooms, etc., with the 
greatest speed possible, although, on account of the want 
of worlonen and the shortness of all materials caused by 
the war, all sorts of delay were inevitable. 

L 



146 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

One of my husband's first acts was to create a chapel, 
as an offering of thanksgiving, and in memory of all our 
relations and friends who have died or fallen during the 
war. It is intended to form a place where perpetual 
prayer may be offered up for them all, and it will indeed 
be an exquisite little place of worship when finished and 
decorated, being formed out of a room already existing 
near the entrance to the castle, and which probably was 
originally intended as a chapel, having a vaulted Gothic 
roof and Pointed doorway. 

It is as if some invisible curtain had fallen, separating 
us for ever from our nomadic life of unrest in Berlin, with 
all its political perplexities and vexations as to " fats and 
greases " (or rather the want of them), and the constant 
irritating absence of everyday needs. Here we are living 
on the fat of the land, as the monks of old themselves 
most probably did in this very same monastery. We are 
in fact self-supporting, which means that my husband 
and the keepers supply us with all manner of venison 
and game, such as wild duck, hares, partridges, and 
pheasants. We buy no butcher's meat ; the farm supplies 
us with milk and butter, flour and bread, and the garden 
keeps us in vegetables and fruit. As elsewhere, these 
things are more or less " beschlagnahmt," but after having 
experienced what it is to be starved, we can appreciate 
all these luxuries well enough. 

Krieblowitz, September 1916. — I have put off until 
now writing an account of a thrilling experience which 
I went through, and which sounds more Uke the plot 
of a shilUng-shocker than an actual occurrence of every- 
day life, although there is very Uttle love in the story and 
a great deal of ill-feeling and hatred. WeU, every one 
has to have some little affair in connection with the war, 
and so I have just had " ma petite guerre a moi," and 
feel rather elated than otherwise, as I have decidedly 
come out of it with flying colours and routed the enemy 
hip and thigh. 



KRIEBLOWITZ, SEPTEMBER 1916 147 

Some ten days before the old Prince's death, I was 
suddenly and peremptorily summoned to appear at the 
Kommandantur, the centre of military legislation in 
BerUn. On my arrival there I was informed that my 
husband was not allowed to enter the room with me, so 
that during the two hours' investigation of my crimes 
which followed he was left to wait in an ante-room, not 
knowing what was going on, or if I was not going to 
be sentenced to the same fate as Miss Cavell for some 
unknown treason on my part. 

On entering the room I asked for an interpreter, and 
was then put through a minute cross-examination, 
which amazed me more than anything else ; most of it 
seemed to have so httle to do with any possible reason 
for my being there. 

I was informed that I was accused of having criticized 
the German treatment of prisoners of war in an un- 
justifiable manner. This had been overheard by a female 
informer, and I was asked to repeat what I had said. 
I was for the moment taken aback, for I could not recall 
having ever spoken of the matter to any one but my 
husband and my most trusted intimates. Wishing, how- 
ever, to be perfectly truthful, I agreed that I might perhaps 
have discussed the matter at some time or other, upon 
which they proceeded to assist my memory by telling 
me I had been heard" to use the words " unglaubliche 
Unmenschlichkeiten " (incredible inhumanities) to Mr. 
Gerard, the Ambassador, 

I pointed out that this was palpably false, as not 
only did I not know what the words meant, but I could 
not even pronounce them had I done so. Having 
convinced them of this through the medium of the 
interpreter, a very nice German officer, who took my 
part the whole time and thought the whole matter a 
storm in a tea-cup, they proceeded to question me on 
all sorts of vague things which had nothing to do with 
the affair at all. 

They were greatly interested not only in my own 



148 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

age, but that of my parents as well, and were very 
curious about my mother's maiden name and the date 
of my father's birthday ; after which they suddenly sprang 
back to real business, and we did a little light fencing as 
to the exact position of the tables and chairs and the coffee- 
cups on a certain memorable night in the "Esplanade" 
garden, when my treasonable incrimination of the 
Prussian methods of treating their prisoners was sup- 
posed to have taken place. When we had agreed on 
these various points the matter was settled as follows : 
Scene laid in the illuminated gardens of the Esplanade ; 
my husband and myself sitting on the terrace drinking 
our coffee, as we always did in the evening ; later enter 
Prince and Princess Braganza, and Baron and Baronin 
von Rath, who joined our party, as was their habit after 
dinner ; conversation general and vague until the arrival 
of Mr. Gerard on the scene. One of us asks him to tell 
us something of his doings that day, to amuse us. Mr. 
Gerard, in his customary abrupt way, replies : " If I 
told you what I had been doing to-day, there would be 
a long article in all the German papers to-morrow, accus- 
ing me of being anti-German and pro-English. But I 
can tell you one thing," he added, " there will be food- 
riots in some of the prison camps very soon." 

I : " Food-riots ? How can that be ? I thought they 
got such splendid parcels from home ! " 

Mr. G. : " Parcels from home consist of groceries. I 
should like to see you Hving on groceries." 

And I really could not remember anything more 
having been said after this, although I was alleged to 
have poured forth volumes of wrathful criticism on the 
subject. I was then not only questioned on the family 
history of my husband and myself, but also on that of 
Prince and Princess Braganza, of Baron von Rath and 
his wife, as well as of Mr. Gerard. 

I was thereupon informed that the matter was 
finished, and returning to the hotel at once ran to my 
friends' rooms to laugh over my experiences, and was at 



KRIEBLOWITZ, SEPTEMBER 1916 149 

the same time rather amused to hear that one of them 
had just been summoned to the Kommandantur too. 

For the next ten days I had not much time to think 
of the matter, as in the meantime old Prince Bliicher had 
died, and I was laid up in bed with influenza. Then, 
on the very day when my husband was away at the 
funeral, I received a second order to appear at the 
Kommandantur. I at once rang up my doctor, who 
wrote out a certificate saying that I was too unwell to 
appear. My judges gave me two days to recover, and 
on my then presenting myself I was curtly informed that 
I was to quit Berlin within three days. For the moment 
there was nothing to be done but obey, as no one knows 
what procedure this mihtary dictatorship may employ 
next. But once established in Breslau, my husband 
immediately proceeded to set all strings in motion to get 
behind the matter and have the sentence rescinded. He 
drew up an appeal to High Quarters, and travelling back 
to Berlin demanded imperatively to see General von 
Kessel personally. He was put off with all manner of 
excuses for several days, when losing further patience 
he sent in an " ultimatum " to the Commandant, saying 
that if he did not see him within twenty-four hours he 
would go personally to the Kaiser. He then took the 
next train for Breslau, but before even arriving there 
telegrams and telephone messages came raining in from 
terrified officials begging my husband to return at once 
and see the General. 

Some one who interviewed him at that time on the 
subject told us that the General had realized his mistake 
when it was too late, but was unable to draw back. 
On being directly asked what my real offence was, he 
was obliged to admit that I had not said the things I 
was accused of, but that I had shown anti-German 
inchnations ; and on its being put to him that this was 
not a grave military offence, he agreed, but said, " I 
mean to teach German princes not to marry English 
wives." Wonderfully diplomatic, is it not ? On the 



I50 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

other hand, in High Quarters they say : " We want the 
foreign wives of our nobiUty to be encouraged to hve in 
our country, and not to be driven out of it one by one." 

By this time all the figures who had been dancing to 
General Kessel's tune began to see their mistake also, 
and proceeded to try and mend broken pitchers. One 
of the principal marionettes, the woman who had stooped 
to play the part of an informer, wrote and apologized, 
saying that she had " overheard incorrectly " ; but she 
met a weU-deserved fate, and having served their ends, 
she and her husband were flung aside by the military 
authorities hke tools of no further service. They were, 
of course, cut dead by every one, and had to leave the 
hotel, and the husband had to resign his post on the 
Staff into the bargain. The General, who was by this 
time in a state of abject fear, implored my husband not 
to let the affair get to High Quarters, and he would 
rescind the sentence at once. But it was already known 
there, causing intense indignation. I received all sorts 
of nice messages and letters from High Quarters, and from 
various high officials, apologising for the idiotic affair 
and regretting the inconvenience it may have caused me. 
I am therefore glad to be able to express my appreciation 
of the kindly, chivalrous feehng existing amongst many 
men of the highest position in this country. 

The conclusion of the affair was rather amusing than 
otherwise, for General von Kessel, feehng he had put his 
foot in it rather badly, became quite friendly with my 
husband, and in a moment of confidence told him some 
interesting details as to their methods of watching the 
doings of women of foreign birth. He said that we were 
all under strict supervision, and that descriptions of our 
lives and doings were all entered in books for this purpose. 

Gebhard asked him what proofs he had of my so-called 
" anti-German inclinations." He thereupon produced a 
letter which I had written to my cousin. Captain Trafford, 
four months ago. Two incriminating sentences were 
marked in it, and the letter had been sent by the Com- 



KRIEBLOWITZ, SEPTEMBER 1916 151 

mandant of Crefeld to the Commandant at Miinster, who 
was so shocked that he sent it on to Kessel, who, still 
more shocked, showed it to Bethmann-Hollweg, who, 
however, was obHged to admit that he could not see 
anything so very terrible in them. 

The inoffensive letter had, however^ grown into a 
State affair, and they had all been pondering deeply on 
its meaning for the last four months. The two extracts 
run as follows : 

1. " The Tennis Club is now open again, and we 
sometimes go there in the afternoons ; but it is not 
amusing as it was last year, as every one seems in low 
spirits and has no energy or keenness for anything." 
German note at the end : " The writer evidently means 
to convey to her cousin that the German nation is 
depressed about the ultimate result of the war." 

2, " When the happy day of peace arrives, what a 
lot of new nephews and nieces you and I will have to 
be introduced to when we meet again in England." 
German note : " The writer seems to be discontented 
with hving in Germany, and intends to go back and live 
in England as soon as she possibly can, and seems to 
infer that she would hke peace at any price, so that 
that moment should arrive for her," 

It seems hardly possible that so much fuss should be 
made about such harmless httle sentences, and many 
Germans laugh at it themselves. I myself can hardly 
help being amused, although I am so angry. But if 
this is all that they can bring against me after two years, 
I feel rather comphmented than otherwise, particularly 
when I think of the things I might have been accused of 
saying, which perhaps it would not have been so easy 
to explain. 

Krieblowitz, September 1916. — ^The great topic of 
interest which is hypnotizing the mental powers of all 
Germany, and putting great strain on the national 
sagacity, is the best way of preserving human life on a 



152 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

minimum of albumen and farinaceous foods. Letters 
received from friends reveal the desperate plight they 
are in to cope with the necessities of the day. We 
hear too of food-riots in Berhn and other big towns, 
but in order to prevent a panic they have all been 
hushed up. 

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, a nephew of the Emperor, 
and the Landrat not very far from here, was shot at last 
week, the people blaming him for the shortness of food, 
etc. ; and an official in the Board of Provisions here told 
my husband, a month ago, that if the war lasted another 
six months it would be impossible to keep the people in 
hand at all, the disquietude is increasing so alarmingly. 

There has been food enough during the last year, 
but it seems that so much has been stored up that whole 
cart-loads have had to be thrown into the Rhine, as it 
has all gone bad. This is what enrages the people so 
fearfully. 

• ••••• 

Although the battle on the Somme has proved to be 
of much longer duration than any one expected, no 
decisive action has taken place up to now. Bloodier and 
more costly as it has proved to be than any other phase 
of this murderous war, Germany remains determined not 
to be crushed by the Alhes, as these in their turn are 
shrill with assertions of its being the final move towards 
her destruction. 

An officer back from the front told us to-day that the 
flyers in the West are causing the most appalling havoc 
there. The French flyers come down to within 300 
metres of the hues, and throw bombs on to transport 
and hospital trains. Only the day before he had himself 
seen an engine blown up, and the engine-driver killed 
together with all the other occupants of the train. How 
thankful I feel that my husband no longer accompanies 
the wounded on the transport-train, as the very one he 
was on has to go into the thick of the fighting in the 
West. In fact, no one is safe anywhere, it seems, and 



KRIEBLOWITZ, SEPTEMBER 1916 153 

only to-day we heard of English and French flyers being 
over Brussels, and German flyers over Portsmouth. 

The death of Prince Emanuel Salm affected us deeply. 
It was only a few short weeks ago that he was relating 
to us his experiences in an Enghsh concentration camp, 
and how land every one had been to him there. He had 
been a prisoner for some eighteen months, his friends 
working hard the whole time to set him free ; and on 
this finally being accomplished, he was at once sent to 
the Russian Front, where he was killed within a very 
short space of time after his arrival. 

The relations between Austria and Germany are 
becoming very strained, the Germans complaining that 
the Austrians lose all the ground gained by the Prussian 
troops, and the Austrians grumbUng that they are never 
given credit for any victories, but are always accused of 
muddling and making mistakes. The Austrian Arch- 
dukes, who invariably arrive too late on the scene, are 
the most popular butt for the criticisms of the German 
comic papers. 

The Austrians, on the other hand, affirm that Germany 
would have been in a sad pUght now had they not stopped 
the Russians from pouring into Silesia in the commence- 
ment of the war. The agitation in Bohemia and Lower 
Austria is said to be increasing alarmingly, the people 
clamouring for bread and peace, even at the cost of 
handing over Galicia or any other territory to Russia, 
if they only be left unmolested. 

The feehngs amongst the people here in Germany, in 
the interior, are a mixture of stoical submission to their 
present desperate pUght, and a certain conviction that 
Germany can never be reaUy humiliated. 

Hindenburg's promotion as Commander-in-Chief in 
the place of Falkenhayn was a very popular step, the 
latter being regarded as a man of personal ambition. 



154 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

whose own ends were at least as important as those 
of his country. It is said that Hindenburg made it a 
condition of his accepting the post that no further actions 
against Verdun should be attempted. 

A great movement is being organized to ensure the 
co-operation of the Reichstag in the field of work especially 
monopoUzed by the Foreign Office until now. In fact, 
a more democratic form of government on EngUsh and 
French lines is being dreamed of and worked for already 
by the more hberal party in the Reichstag. 

To-day is one of the critical days in the Reichstag, 
as the SociaUsts are going to speak, which generally 
means more street riots. Men coming home from the 
front are beginning to murmur, and the authorities are 
in fear of their causing disturbances. We also hear that 
Herr von Jagow, the head of the police, has been suddenly 
promoted (?) to the same post in Breslau, on accoimt 
of the Emperor's displeasure at the drastic measures 
taken by the pohce during the last bread and peace riots 
in Berhn when women are said to have been wounded. 
The Emperor said he would have no more of it, and that 
some other method than that of shooting women must 
be found for queUing street-riots. 

The unprecedented English artiUery fire on the Somme 
is fiUing the hospitals more than ever, aU those on 
the Rhine being over-filled, so that wounded are being 
transported straight from the front to the Tempelhofer 
Hospital in Berhn, which has never occurred during the 
war before. Cases of overstrained nerves and temporary 
insanity are the order of the day. Only yesterday I 
spoke to an official who told me that within the last week 
both of his sons had been sent home insane, having gone 
out of their minds at the awful things they had witnessed. 

An incident which caused much rejoicing here was 
the successful crossing of the merchant-submarine boats. 



KRIEBLOWITZ, SEPT.-OCT. 1916 155 

the people looking upon it as the commencement of a 
new era of commercial enterprise and success. 

The reduction in pay of all officers in the German 
army, from the Minister of War down to the youngest 
lieutenant, though regarded with satisfaction by the 
civil population and the rank and file of the army, has 
been received with very mixed feelings by the officers 
themselves. They look upon the moment as too critical 
for such trenchant measures, and those who have had to 
bear the whole of the hardships of two years' fighting 
feel themselves very much injured. To the simple looker- 
on the system seems to be one of burning injustice. 

Krieblowitz, September-October 1916. — The air raid 
on Karlsruhe was hushed up, but a witness told me it 
was terrible. The aeroplanes were so high that nothing 
was to be seen ; one only heard the uncanny buzz in the 
air and watched the fire drop. The man who described 
it was a watchmaker, and very indignant at this attack 
on an open town. " Well," he said, " I wonder what 
we shall do in return — a few more attacks on England !" 

On September i, all people having meat in any form 
were required to send in an exact return of the kind, 
amount, etc. Several society ladies of a certain kind 
immediately gave big dinner-parties, saying, " We would 
rather let our friends eat it than give it up to the 
authorities as we did our stores of sugar." There is 
a peculiarly unpatriotic undertone there, whereas the 
following is a case of misplaced patriotism. A man 
back from the front on leave was asked in the train 
when he thought the war would end. " Why," he replied, 
" when the Emperor has to eat bread and jam Uke us." 
A lady who heard this had the man arrested. The poor 
devil meant no harm, though of course he should have 
been more guarded, but he was tired and fresh from 
horrors that I should have liked to send the patriotic 
lady to share. 



156 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

A friend of mine wanted to buy some woollen under- 
wear, and her experiences are t5^ical of war-shopping 
now in Germany. She saw what she wanted in a shop 
and went in. The girl who attended her was very 
obhging and got ever3rthing ready, but when the bill 
was made out she turned to my friend and said, " Where 
is your ' Bezugschein ' (permit of purchase) ? " " Oh," 
said my friend, " I have none." The girl told her it 
was a trifle, and that she would reserve the goods for her 
until she had obtained one ; she need only go to the 
pohce station. Off went my friend, and when she arrived 
at the pohce station they told her to go to a stationer's, 
and get a form which is filled in as a kind of control 
when one moves about. So she departed and returned 
with this form. " What shall I write on it ? " she asked. 
The answer was, your name, your age, where you were 
born, what subject you are, and last, but not least — 
not how much material do you want, but what faith 
do you profess ? My friend filled in all this, whereupon 
the official stamped her paper, which meant that he 
guaranteed for the truth thereof, and then sent her off 
to the place where she might receive the permit. This 
was a good walk from where she was, and she decided to 
go next day. When she got there at 4 o'clock in the 
afternoon she was told the office was only open from 8 
to I o'clock. Patiently she trudged home, to start again 
next day. When she arrived this time she was asked 
what the permit was to be for. " For three pairs of 
combinations," she told the official (there are no discreet 
secrets from officials here in war-time). " What ! " he 
exclaimed, " you want three pairs ? You cannot have 
more than two, one to wear while the other is in the 
wash ! " Shopping becomes a strange thing when con- 
trolled by Prussian officialdom. 

Cheese has run out — why ? There has been a quarrel 
with Switzerland, whilst Holland exports to England, 
for Germany will not pay enough. Germany says : If 



KRIEBLOWITZ, SEPT.-OCT. 1916 157 

we pay so much for cheese, the public must pay so much 
too ; the poor will then not be able to buy cheese. The 
rich, however, will. Then, as the poor consider cheese 
their right, they will revolt if they see that only the rich 
can buy it ; whereas if there is no cheese at all, there can 
be no cheese riots ! 

Roumania has declared war on Austria, and the 
Austrians are in despair. Their freedom is gone anyway, 
for they cannot defend themselves against all these 
enemies alone ; and, after all, is it so much worse to be 
under England's sway than under that of Germany, 
which seems their only prospect ? Austria wants peace 
at any cost. 

War Commandment : Thou shalt not slaughter cattle 
without a special permit. 

One dark night the village policeman passes a butcher's 
house and hears queer sounds ; he also sees a light 
streaming through the chinks of the door. He determines 
to knock and ask what the butcher is doing so late at 
night. The butcher's wife says she is getting her meat 
ready for the next morning. The next day he appears 
at the same butcher's, and lo 1 there he finds a freshly 
slaughtered calf. " WTiat 1 " says the policeman. " This 
is forbidden. You will have to pay a fine." The butcher's 
wife protests perfect innocence ; her neighbour had called 
her in to kill the calf, for the poor beast had been climbing 
a ladder, got its head between the rungs, and hung in 
awful agony. It was a good excuse, but the policeman 
decided that a fine must be paid, and that calves which 
climb ladders must be left to hang until the permit for 
slaughter is procured ! 

This is not an exceptional case, and no wonder evasion 
goes on. The greater the number of prohibitions, the 
greater the amount of swindhng. 

Prussians were much disappointed on their journeys 



158 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

to the Bavarian Alps this year. The Bavarian's never 
had any food when Prussians were hungry I 

A soldier home on leave tells me about the life the 
officers lead. Why, he said, the officers were having the 
time of their lives even now. Every day for dinner the 
tables are decorated with flowers ; the officers have 
butter in quantities, eggs, meat, all most beautifully 
prepared, and the table laid as if they were in a first-rate 
hotel. Following each regiment there is always sufficient 
baggage among which are crockery and glass, forks and 
knives of the best kind. One officer had even his dishes in 
silver. His view was, I suppose, that it was less break- 
able ! The men get nothing of all this, neither butter, 
eggs, nor forks and knives ; but that was just it — war ! 

They had bad losses near Verdun. The Major had 
got the Iron Cross ist Class — why ? Because he had 
remained in a protected position and received the 
ammunition from a Heutenant in a protected position 
on the other side. Between these two was about 300 
yards of ground over which the waggons had to go back- 
wards and forwards with the ammunition, and each 
journey cost so many fives which were rewarded by the 
Iron Cross the said Major received for his bravery. This 
seemed to me very hke a suppressed grumble, but actually 
there are no more faithful and loyal soldiers than these 
stolid Prussians, whose sense of duty and obedience is 
indomitable. 

Krieblowitz, January 1917. — We are aU growing 
thinner every day, and the rounded contours of the 
German nation have become a legend of the past. We 
are aU gaunt and bony now, and have dark shadows round 
our eyes, and our thoughts are chiefly taken up with 
wondering what our next meal wiU be, and dreaming 
of the good things that once existed. 

AU labour resources are being organized for military 
purposes, which means that every man will be called 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JANUARY 1917 159 

upon to serve his country in some way, and even those 
who were passed as physically unfit a few months ago 
are now being trained for military service. 

One curious feature in the mental condition of the 
people is the way in which feeling towards England and 
everything Enghsh has veered round. Men who were 
scoffing and raiUng at England twelve months ago are 
beginning to express their admiration, and even dare to 
display a certain affection and attachment publicly. A 
popular speaker, addressing a large assembly the other 
day, declared that the talk about Germany's splendid 
organization was all nonsense ; she was nowhere in it 
with England, and that England was the only country 
which could organize at all. Another acquaintance, 
Count B., offered help for Enghsh people to the emergency 
society here, declaring that he had only learnt to love 
England since the war, and that he would never allow a 
word to be said against her by any one in his house. 

The truth is, the soul of the people is sick unto death 
of the useless carnage and hateful sinfulness of it all. 
In the Reichstag the same old bombastic phrases still 
bring down a volley of applause, so that the quiet observer 
is astonished at the childishness of these representatives 
of the nation ; but the man who would bring peace and 
not war would be hailed as a real leader and king. One 
intrepid Sociahst, goaded to despair at the artificiality 
of the speeches, shouted out the truth in the face of the 
whole assembly : " The people don't want war ; what 
they want is peace and bread and work " — but he was 
only snubbed by contemptuous derision in reply. 

Herr von Jagow's resignation of his post as Foreign 
Secretary was a great sorrow to us. He was a personal 
friend of ours, and a clever, cultivated man, a pacifist, 
which, of course, rendered him abhorrent and suspect to 
the mihtary party. In his own quiet way he contravened 
many ruthless orders of the militarists, and regretted 
many more which he was helpless to prevent. He is 



i6o AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

probably a victim of inimical forces over which he had 
no control. He was not relentless and uncompromising 
enough for the military party, and he did not trouble 
himself enough to play to the democratic party which 
is daily acquiring power. He was too much a diploma- 
tist of the old school, and lacked the power of forcing 
his own personality on his hearers when speaking. 

Perhaps one of the most pathetic central figures playing 
on the stage of the European War is the German Emperor, 
brilliant as his role may seem to superficial lookers-on. 
In reality he is but a lay figure, crowned and clad in 
shining armour, and moved here and there at the will of 
the military power which he has created. 

I think people in England hardly realize the covert 
scorn with which people speak of him here. The remarks 
made often astonish me. " Let him talk as if he had 
won these victories, and let him believe he is running the 
whole army." " Send him to the East when there are 
some prisoners to march past, and he will be pleased ; 
and again to the West when there is a httle success to 
show him, and he will be as pleased as ever." Whilst 
the Emperor himself complains sadly in the same words : 
" I never know what I am going to do from one day to 
another," he says. " To-day I am packed up and sent 
off to the East, and to-morrow to the West." 

Summing up his character it may be said of him that 
he is to a certain degree a t5n-ant, and is not always to 
be depended upon to keep his promises. As regards his 
friendships, he takes people up easily and drops them 
again just as easily, and further possesses certain qualities 
which go to make up the bully. Yet in spite of these 
drawbacks he has a great charm of manner which endears 
him to all those who really know him ; and his real 
friendships are genuine and lasting, and if he only 
possessed the courage of his friendships he would be a 
happier man. 

As for the Emperor's six sons, there are many malicious 
remarks and criticisms rife amongst the people ; and all 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1917 161 

the touching anecdotes of the sacrifice of the Empress in 
sending six sons to the front, where other mothers had 
only one to offer, have long disappeared from the papers. 
The monster of war has always had a way of passing 
over the six princes, and preferred the only son of a widow. 
People are beginning to murmur that they are being too 
carefully guarded ; and granted that they did run into 
danger at the beginning of the war, they always seem to 
be now more or less on the Staff — and, funny as it may 
seem, a great many people seem to take it specially amiss 
that one or other of them is always getting married. 
" The fact of the matter is," said one of the ministers in 
a very high position here not long ago, " one of the 
Kaiser's sons ought to be sacrificed — to appease the 
people.'* 

Berlin, February 1917. — After an interval of peace 
and quiet in the country for six months, Berhn again 
with all its unrest and harrowing problems. Krieblowitz, 
with its docile Silesian peasants and their somewhat 
cringing manners, characteristic of the mixed breed of 
Slav and the East German race, was a soothing experience. 

There is intense cold here as there, such as has not 
been known for more than half a century. But there 
one had the wide expanse of ploughed acres walled in by 
great game-haunted forests, whilst here there are shivering 
throngs of hungry care-worn people picking their way 
through the snowy streets, and anxiously watching for 
some isolated waggon of briquettes, which may offer a 
chance of buying ten or twenty, and thus having a warm 
room for at least one day. 

Coal, or at least the want of it, is the one subject of 
the moment. It seems suddenly to have disappeared 
from the face of the German empire ; or is at least not 
available, and is lying shunted off in innumerable waggon- 
loads on obscure side-lines somewhere or other in the 
coal districts. 

Imagine the result ! Everywhere people staying in 

M 



i62 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

bed and refusing to be comforted, or hurrying off from 
their own flats to meet with a very frigid reception in 
the hotels and pensions where they seek refuge. 

Of course, there is a perfect epidemic of burst water- 
pipes all over BerUn, and as there are no plumbers to 
repair the damage, people are beginning to think that the 
torments of Dante's Inferno are capped by the hardships 
of this deadly winter of 1916-17. 

Berhn the cleanest town in Emrope is of course a 
thing of the past. The snow Hes unmolested until the 
boys* schools are turned out to shovel it away, or some 
few enterprising females do their best to aid in making 
the roads clear. 

There are practically no motors to be had, and the 
few antediluvian droshkies are being dragged wearily 
along by half-starved beasts, who, if they happen to 
stumble and fall, don't even attempt to rise, but lie 
still, humbly thankful for the respite from work, on the 
cold frozen ground. 

As for the mood of the people, the heroic attitude has 
entirely disappeared. Now one sees faces hke masks, 
blue with cold and drawn by hunger, with the harassed 
expression common to all those who are continually 
speculating as to the possibihty of another meal. 

If by chance one does happen to dine well it is always 
with more or less of a bad conscience, as ever5rthing is 
in reahty forbidden and belongs to the nation at large. 

At Krieblowitz we tried now and again to kill one 
of our pigs, but it won't do as a rule. There is none 
of the feasting and revelry which generally accompany 
this solemn ceremony. The whole province of Silesia 
watches the act with hungry faces, counting how many 
mouthfuls we each appropriate for our own share, and 
Hindenburg stands sternly in the background, demanding 
a portion of it for his munitioners, whilst we are deprived 
of our meat-tickets for weeks to come as a punishment 
for the few succulent morsels we may manage to get. 

The fowls are exasperating and will not lay any eggs, 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1917 163 

so that if we are lucky we are doled out one egg every 
three weeks. Our bread is being " stretched " in every 
way possible, and is now mixed with some of those 
numerous subterranean vegetables coming under the 
rubric of the turnip, of whose existence we never dreamed 
before. 

On our return to the " Esplanade " we m^t with a very 
cold reception, for some of the men who attend to the 
heating apparatus had refused to leave their beds, saying 
that their food-tickets had been appropriated for the 
guests and they intended sleeping until they were restored 
to them. The whole hotel was in a great state of excite- 
ment, moreover, several of the managers having been 
arrested for appropriating food and butter entrusted to 
them for the wounded soldiers, and selUng them at an 
enormous profit to guests in the hotel. 

On the whole, all the conscientious scruples which 
really did hinder many people from storing up underhand 
supplies of food some six months ago have disappeared 
before the pangs of hunger, and the feeling prevalent in 
all classes is : every man for himself and the devil for 
us all ! 

The princes have come up for the opening of the 
Herrenhaus which is about to meet, and my husband's 
first appearance there is looked upon as quite an event, 
the seat having been in abeyance for twenty years. 

Prince and Princess Miinster were here for a few days, 
she rather depressed, as her eldest son, Freddie, is being 
ordered off to the East Front after being at home on sick 
leave for one and a half years. But now practically 
every one who can manage to creep on all fours is being 
called back. And as her second son, Paul, is also leaving 
Lichterfelde and going out later on, the Princess will 
be in the painful position of seeing her husband and 
sons joined in fighting against her own relations and 
countrymen. 

Nancy (Duchess of Croy) is alone here as well, as her 
husband has had to go back. And Princess Braganza 



i64 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

(Anita), whose husband is now in Warsaw, has only just 
returned to say good-bye to Mrs. Gerard, one of her 
oldest American friends. 

One small spark of pleasure amongst us has been the 
engagement of Countess Pourtal^s (the widowed daughter 
of Count Bemstorff) to Prince Johannes Lowenstein. 
Such small faint rays of happiness light up the Hves of 
us exiles who have been sharing one another's lot for two 
years and a half. 

The Great Headquarters have, we hear, been changed 
from Pless to Creuznach (?), as it is expected that the 
decision will come shortly in the West. It is a somewhat 
exposed position for flyers, and fears are expressed for 
the person of the Emperor. 

Every one is excited about the submarine question. 
We all know and feel that Germany is playing her last 
card ; with what results, no one can possibly foretell. 
The resolution for sharpening up the submarine war was 
received silently by the commission in the Reichstag. 
The middle-class Chauvinists and the Pan-Germans hail 
it as an infallible step to a final victory ; whilst the 
pessimists and wise men who are discontented with the 
war assert that God has struck the German nation with 
bhndness before utterly ruining it, and predict that all 
the neutrals will follow the lead of America, who has just 
handed over her Note threatening war. 

One astute man declares the whole move to have 
been purposely provoked by England, who intentionally 
phrased her refusal of the peace proposals in such insolent 
terms as to provoke Germany into doing something rash 
in retaliation. 

We, however, think the situation looks pretty serious 
for England, as the U-boats can starve her out partially. 
On the other hand, rumours are rampant as to the mys- 
terious inventions presumably planned by England for 
frustrating the devilish workings of the submarines. 

The excitement amongst the Americans here is intense, 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1917 165 

and yesterday, when news of the rupture of diplomatic 
relations was announced at the Embassy, during a 
luncheon-party there, several of the women lost all con- 
trol over themselves, and faints and hysterical weeping 
seem to have been the order of the day. The American 
ladies married to Germans, who have undertaken to pay 
their princely husbands' bills, are in a sad plight, as all 
financial connections will be broken off between the two 
countries. 

Mr. Gerard, the Ambassador, will be regretted by few. 
He was a man of disagreeable, tactless manners, and 
managed to offend every one. In fact, he was not the 
person to have been chosen to act as negotiator between 
two hostile powers at such a critical period of the world's 
history. Mrs. Gerard, his wife, on the contrary, will be 
regretted by all of us. With her quiet tact and patience 
she endeavoured to gloss over the many breaches of good 
manners committed by her incorrigible husband. 

Mr. and Mrs. Grew were very popular here. She, poor 
woman, was torn between regret at leaving her best 
friends here and joy at seeing her children again, who 
have been Uving in America since the beginning of the 
war. Mr. Grew, in spite of his pronounced sympathy 
for England, never betrayed his pohtical feehngs by word 
or deed, and with his really gentlemanly instincts bore 
the brunt of all the diplomatic affairs. Without him the 
Embassy would have smashed up long ago. 

Mr. Dresel and Mr. Osborne will also be missed. So 
will Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, as they have hved in Europe 
for twenty-seven years and have all their personal friends 
here, so that the present rupture means a decided crisis 
in their Hfe. As they are not in with the present Govern- 
ment they are quietly returning to Switzerland, the work 
of their hfe being over. 

The Prisoners' Department was entirely organized by 
Mr. Jackson, and the welfare of the prisoners was much 
improved by his efforts. Now, with one stroke, his work 
has come to a close, and his business has been transferred 



i66 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

to the Dutch Legation. But no one can manage the 
intricate workings of the organization as well as Mr. 
Jackson did, and although we sometimes criticized hisi 
apparent want of feeling for the sufferings of the prisoners, 
he has since assured us that this hardness of heart was 
only assumed so as to appear absolutely just and un- 
biassed, 

Berlin, April 1917. — It is April again, and, looking 
through my window on to the Tiergarten, I can see the 
snow falling incessantly, whirled past by those awful 
east winds which torment us this year and bring all 
sorts of disagreeable reminders of the long Russian 
winter and the revolution which is running its bloody 
course there. 

We have just passed through some chaotic weeks, 
getting settled down in our apartment in the Bliicher 
Palace, no light task nowadays. 

The chief subject of interest is, of course, the great 
spring offensive on the West Front, and I hear exciting 
details from acquaintances now and then passing through 
Berhn. The Enghsh are said to have broken through 
the third German Hne, but the general impression here 
is one of confidence in Hindenburg's leadership and the 
strength of their own iron wall, which they say no human 
power can ever overcome. 

Count Radolin gave us a graphic account of the 
storming of Arras. He said it was the ist Garde regiment 
which saved the situation, but not a single officer sur- 
vived it. The Bavarians gave way, it seems, before the 
furious attack. 

Ammunition seems to be running short, and trains 
filled with wounded arrive at the towns in the south 
and west of Germany every ten minutes. None, how- 
ever, are sent to Berlin. Bissing, the Belgian Governor, 
has just been buried, and we have heard that by some 
strange hazard the same chaplain who officiated at Miss 



BERLIN, APRIL 1917 167 

Ca veil's execution attended the last moments of the 
inexorable old Prussian general. 

Young Count Schaffgotsch told us that he ran forward 
to pick up an Enghsh wounded officer, and doing so 
recognized an Oxford friend of his. He accompanied 
him to hospital and did everjrthing he could to alleviate 
his lot. 

To-day I got a letter from Captain E. Trafford in 
which he mentioned how pleased the imprisoned officers 
at Crefeld are, as the camp is henceforth to become an 
all-British one, and the prisoners of other nationalities 
are being sent away, and Enghsh officers from all parts 
of Germany are arriving every day. There are about 
400 of them there now. It means a tremendous change 
to them all, and many old friends meet again who knew 
nothing of one another's imprisonment until now. 

Another piece of news is that Princess Braganza, 

who has just returned from Vienna, met Mr. D 

there a few days before the declaration of war with 
America. He was on his way home to America when 
he left here, but on his arrival in England was asked to 
go to Vienna to negotiate about English prisoners there. 

He gave some interesting details as to the general 
feeUng in England now. The former intense hatred has 
taken on a more subdued character, and one even 
hears occasional praise of the enemy. The hatred 
still existing seems to be more or less concentrated on 
one person, and they are emphatic in declaring that 
peace must never be made with a Hohenzollern. 

The submarine war, he says, is accepted with calm 
fatahsm, and in spite of its causing some inconveniences 
and lessening imported wares, they maintain that 20 
per cent of the ships still get through, and the U-boats 
can do no really grave damage to the mercantile shipping. 

I heard likewise, from some one else who is in touch 
with England, that there is now a great peace party 
existing there, led by such men as Haldane, Lord Robert 
Cecil (hi fact all the Cecils), as well as Lord Ampthill 



i68 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

and the Russell family, and other unexpected and well- 
known personalities. 

I heard further that Sir Edward Grey has been work- 
ing for peace for the last year, and that Wilson's peace 
proposal was in reaUty due to Sir Edward's influence. 
This, they say, is probably the reason why Lloyd George 
got him turned out ; but Lloyd George, they say, will 
not last much longer himself. 

People blame the German Chancellor for not meeting 
Sir Edward Grey half-way when he put out very decided 
feelers for peace, some six months before the German 
peace proposals were ever dreamt of. Here the popular 
idea is that unless the Russian episode (which many 
people think will unhinge the earth from its axis) be 
imitated in a country that shall be nameless, there will 
be no more question of peace propositions at aU. 

The other day Dr. Solf, the Colonial Minister, dined 
here. He was interesting and clever as usual, and wanted 
to know my opinion of the submarine war. A lady who 
was dining here too asked him point-blank what he 
thought on the subject, and he admitted frankly that 
Prussia had played her trump card and it was doomed 
to be a failure. 

The war, he said, was a minor evil compared to the 
internal evil. Fresh disturbances are expected, and 
troops of mounted pohcemen patrol daily through the 
streets of Moabit. On the eve of an expected riot the 
Kaiserin hurried personally to one of the chief factories 
here, and hastily presented one of the leaders of the 
workmen's party with decorations, which, as evil tongues 
affirm, he promptly hung round his dog's neck which 
accompanied one of the processions next day. The whole 
revolt, however, ended in a few harmless demonstrations. 

My husband yesterday had a private audience with 
the Emperor at the Bellevue Palace. On his return he 
told me that for the first time in his Ufe, after such an 
interview, he came away with a sort of feeling of pity 



BERLIN, MAY 1917 169 

in his heart for the lonehness of a monarch. The Kaiser 
struck him as being so helpless and alone, though at the 
same time surrounded by cringing, obsequious courtiers. 
He told me that the Kaiser and he had discussed for some 
time the present outlook of affairs, and although the 
Emperor's words sounded hopeful his general bearing 
was not so, and gave the impression that he was repeating 
a lesson. 

Berlin, May 1917. — Here we are right in the heart of 
May, and the long arctic winter has given place to blue 
skies and a more hopeful view in the aspect of affairs. 
Every one goes about with a brighter face, and a more 
patriotic optimism prophesies the end of the war in July 
or August. 

The interest awakened by hopes of the Chancellor's 
speech was somewhat disappointed. He was so ex- 
cessively cautious. No new disclosures were made, no 
declarations offered as to the German war aims, and no 
new loopholes opened out for peace feelers, excepting 
the reserved hint of a possible separate understanding 
with Russia, which however cheers some people up 
wonderfully. 

Scheidemann's challenge, dashed into the midst of the 
assembled Reichstag in the shape of a threatened revolu- 
tion, drew blood, as he hoped, and the Pan-Germans 
instantly filled their papers with columns of righteous 
indignation at this open menace to the nation, whereupon 
the Sociahsts immediately rephed with a corresponding 
threat, which had been made personally to no less a 
personage than Bethmann-Hollweg himself by General 
von Groning some two years ago. 

Amongst the many wandering rumours which reach 
our ears we heard that the Wittelsbachs and Hohen- 
zollems are planning the cutting of the Gordian knot 
of Alsace - Lorraine by dividing it up between them. 
Scheidemann himself publicly accuses the Pan-Germans 
of being the cause of the Kaiser's unpopularity with the 



I70 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Entente nations by always dragging his name into their 
private plans of annexation. 

The sad news of Prince Friedrich Kari's death is deeply 
commiserated here. He was trained as a flyer in Breslau, 
and we often saw his aeroplane flying over Krieblowitz, 
He had only been in the West ten days when he was 
killed. It is said his death was prophesied through the 
medium of " Planchette," that it would take place 
so many days after his arrival at the front, and that it 
actually took place to the very day. 

He was the Emperor's nephew and was one of those 
attractive youths beloved in both countries, having 
spent much of his time in England (where he once played 
in the tennis championship at Wimbledon under the name 
of Mr. Karl Frederick). There was much criticism 
here when his death was announced, a few days after 
he was reported wounded ; and it was, needless to say, 
put down to neglect on the part of the Enghsh doctors 
and nurses. But I have learnt to bide my time and keep 
silent when I hear such things discussed, knowing that 
truth will out sooner or later. And a few days after a 
letter came from the boy himself, written the day he 
died, saying how kind the Enghsh had been to him, what 
intense care the doctors and nurses had expended on 
him, and his rehef to find himself in a bright cheerful 
Enghsh hospital after his experiences at the front. He 
said they had moved him from the dressing-station, as 
it was being shelled incessantly, and went on to say 
that his uncle, the Duke of Connaught, had instantly 
sent out the best surgeon from London to attend him, 
and had telegraphed repeatedly to inquire for him. 
Much more was in the letter which at present is not 
allowed to be repeated, in case it might disillusion those 
who wish to criticize the Enghsh treatment of wounded 
prisoners. 

Count Bemstorff, the late German Ambassador in 
Washington, with his staff have arrived from America, 



BERLIN, MAY 1917 171 

and bitter complaints are being poured forth as to the 
behaviour of the Canadian officers who examined the 
Embassy luggage. 

Count Bernstorff and his wife are now staying at this 
hotel. Every one is commenting on the fact that he 
was not received at Headquarters on his arrival, and it 
is rumoured that it may be owing to the fact that he 
was known to be very much opposed to the unrestricted 
U - boat war, and could have prevented American 
intervention if he had been given a free hand, and if 
the unremitting antagonism between the Reichsmarine 
Amt and the Foreign Office had not precipitated matters. 
The Mexican blunder cannot be laid at Count Bernstorff 's 
door. 

We hear that a climax has come for Greece, and the 
monarchy is played out. German influence has come to 
an end and Venizelos has won the day. King Constan- 
tine has abdicated, and the German Minister (our friend 
Count Mirbach) is returning with his staff. My husband 
came across a pubUcation regarding some of the members 
of the so-called German propaganda staff, including one 
who is styled as Count Bliicher, and who is mentioned 
as being imphcated in secret service operations against 
the Entente. Believing there must be some mistake in 
the name, he has made inquiries, and has found out that 
the gentleman in question is a member of the distant 
branch of the Mecklenburg " von Bluchers." 

Great discussion over the torpedoing of hospital ships, 
the German view being that they were bogus ones, carry- 
ing ammunition and troops hidden on board. Even if 
this were true it would be no excuse, for they ought to 
give warning to enable the sick and wounded, nurses 
and doctors, to get off. The naval authorities, indeed, 
declare that orders have never been issued for such 
wholesale destruction. But I have heard from some one, 
who is in a position to know, that the orders were so 



172 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

worded as to leave too much to the discretion of the 
commanders, who, in cases where it was impossible to 
identify the real character of the ship in question, took 
the benefit of the doubt and acted as their feehngs or 
ambition prompted them. So far as the German nation 
as a whole is concerned, half of it does not beheve or 
reahze that any hospital ships have been sunk ; a 
quarter regret it intensely ; and the rest try to prove 
beyond doubt that the ships were camouflaged and 
really contained troops. Some women, especially, are 
horrified at the stories told. My sister, Freda Charlton, 
on her long dangerous journey to the Cape, took seven 
small children with her, and made them wear life- 
belts the whole time. When I showed some German 
ladies of my acquaintance the photograph of twins of 
two years old standing on deck, each girt with a huge 
hfe-belt, tears came into their eyes, and they said : 
" Do people really think that the Germans are so cruel as 
to want to sink ships with women and children on them ! " 

I met a lady the other day who was actually on board 
one of the torpedoed hospital ships, and was saved by 
chnging to a plank. She described something of the 
ghastly experience, and says she will be haunted to her 
djing day by the expression of agony on the faces of the 
helpless wounded men, unable to make the shghtest 
effort to save themselves in their tight bandages, as the 
waves closed over them. Whilst shuddering with pity 
at the picture she drew, I could not at the same time 
help recalling the face of a poor German mother bidding 
farewell to her second son, who was starting for the 
front only a few days after receiving details of the 
death of her other son, who had been fearfully mutilated 
by black troops. 

Berlin, June-July 1917. — How quickly the English 
are advancing ! I wonder if this last victory will 
prove a turning-point in the war, as it seems to be 



BERLIN, JUNE-JULY 1917 173 

a well-known fact that the Enghsh did break through 
the German hnes, although they themselves were not 
aware of the fact until they had retired again. But the 
capture of the Ypres salient is no unimportant factor 
and may possibly mean the final road to peace. 

Here the miUtary authorities, as they are bound 
to do, characterize every advance of the enemy as an 
elastic bend in the German line ; or if it is reluctantly 
admitted that the first German line has been broken 
through, the Enghsh attack must always waver and fail 
on the ever-renewed defence of the German reserves. 

Harden's weekly periodical Zukunft has been sup- 
pressed until the end of the war, as he is one of the few 
men who dared to say what he thought, and perfectly 
openly argued the necessity of handing over Alsace- 
Lorraine whilst there was still time to do it with the grand 
air. Later on, he argues, it will simply mean a matter of 
compulsion. This view is shared by many others. My 
husband is emphatic in his advice to agree to it in 
time. Why continue jeopardizing the whole empire for 
a province which, as Bismarck said, will always be a 
heritage of woe to whoever possesses it. 

We get all our news through the carefully prepared 
communiques let loose on the credulous pubhc every 
Saturday and Sunday by the Wolff Bureau, and this 
time they mentioned the retreat as a single insignificant 
episode in the great general offensive of the Entente. 
The retreat is described as a systematic and voluntary 
retirement in order to hinder any unnecessary loss of Hfe. 

I heard gruesome stories about the German infantry 
complaining that they were dehberately sacrificed to 
save the German guns, and that out of some 3000 men 
in the northern battle of Messines, over 2000 were taken 
prisoners by reason of the artillery failing to support 
them. 

Hindenburg's retreat tactics seem to be formed on 
those used alone by the Russians until now, namely. 



174 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

that of devastating every inch of land left between them- 
selves and the enemy. 

And so another king has been shaken from his throne 
by the great earthquake, and poor King Constantine 
has had to abdicate and give way to forces stronger than 
his own. He was a good man and worthy of a better 
fate than an inglorious exile in a strange land. He used 
all the powers God had given him to keep his country 
from bloodshed, and his political crime was that he refused 
to sanction the Entente policy of his minister who had a 
majority to back him. 

The Greek minister and his wife, the Theotokys, are 
hurrying away from Berhn to join the exiled monarch 
in Switzerland, and we have to look on and see how one 
more friend leaves the sinking ship Germania. 

One of the strangest signs of the time is, to my thinking, 
the rapid and insidious way in which the tide of democracy 
is creeping on and overflooding all Europe. People are 
beginning to ask whether this is the divine meaning of 
the great catastrophe. In Russia we have seen the bloody 
horrors of an Asiatic revolt driving the Czar ignominiously 
from his high place. In Austria the newly fledged 
Emperor has seized the bull by the horns, and openly 
pleaded for democracy in his speech from the throne. 
Graf Tisza, the most unscrupulous and ruthless autocrat 
in all Europe, was forced to give up office because he 
dared to oppose democracy as represented in the Hun- 
garian franchise bill. In Greece King Constantine had 
to abdicate ostensibly because of his refusing to support 
the democratic party. In Germany, where democracy 
was not as yet on the official political programme, it 
is gaining new adherents every day, and in time the 
new movement is bound to carry everything before it. 
It is pretty certain that in the future it wiU be impossible 
for any one. Kaiser or minister, to conclude treaties which 
are capable of leading the nation into war without the 
consent of the representatives of the people, and the 



BERLIN, JUNE-JULY 1917 175 

democrats are determined that all important negotiations 
with other nations must be supported by a vote of con- 
fidence, and all internal questions must be settled by the 
Reichstag. 

The Chancellor's position has been growing more and 
more critical, and his day has come. No one was satisfied 
with him, and Erzberger's vigorous attack in order to 
extract some definite proposals of peace have at last 
tripped him up. 

There can be no doubt that Bethmann's hands were 
tied aU along, and that he was not a free man. He is, 
in fact, the scapegoat for covering the faults of his lord 
and master. I have heard on pretty certain authority 
that the Kaiser gave his royal assent to Austria's ulti- 
matum to Serbia in 1914, without even mentioning this 
small matter to his Chancellor until it was an accomplished 
fact. 

Here the impulsiveness of his nature became a crime, 
and Bethmann, conscious of the fact that it was this 
consent which set the machinery of war in motion, has 
never been able to make the error good again, and has 
now made a final atonement, as he could not betray his 
royal master to the world. His is a tragic fate, and the 
role of compromise forced upon him lends him a tragic 
importance worthy of a central figure in the literature 
of the war in the days to come. 

Helfferich and Zimmermann, they say, must go too, 
as well as a number of other ministers who are opposed 
to overtures of peace in any form. There is great excite- 
ment ever5rwhere, and the world seems turned topsy- 
turvy. Hindenburg and Ludendorff in Berlin to offer 
their opinion on the new terms of peace ; men without 
titles stepping into titled men's shoes ; the Crown Prince 
sucking wisdom from the leaders of the different factions ; 
Sociahsts visiting the Kaiser to offer him their opinion 
on a republican form of government, and being indig- 
nantly called to order for pla5dng the courtier by their 
partisans. 



176 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

The Kaiser is daily growing more and more the shadow 
of a king, and people talk openly of his abdication as a 
possibility very much desired. He gives in to all the 
demands of the Socialists, but at the same time makes 
so many palpable blunders and mistakes that a man in 
high office said only the other day, it looked almost as if 
the Emperor's advisers were in the pay of England, so 
insane is their advice, and that they seem to be dehberately 
plajdng into the hands of the enemy. 

One consequence of all the blundering is that there is 
murmuring everywhere, in the army as well as amongst 
the civilians. For example, when on the advice of 
Michaehs the bread allowance was cut down, there was 
great grumbling amongst the people and a revolt seemed 
threatening. The food controllers in a panic promised 
them extra meat at a cheap price, to make up for the 
curtailed bread rations, and ordered all the milk cows 
in certain districts to be slaughtered. 

This promptly took place, to the great rage of the 
agriculturists, who indignantly opposed the " madness 
of the order." But it was too late, the order had been 
carried out, and for a week or two there was such a surplus 
of meat that it actually had to be given or thrown away, 
to prevent its spoihng in the hot weather. 

The result is now that milk is running short, and there 
is renewed grumbUng, although the extra supply of cheap 
meat proved a great boon to the populations in the towns 
and helped them to tide over hard times. 

As an accompaniment to the incessant murmuring 
and increasing incredulity of the people, there is a decided 
inclination to a milder form of revolt, and riots and 
disturbances do now and then take place, though they 
are hushed up. The Germans are such a patient and 
long-suffering race that they do not as yet reahze their 
own power, and the Prussian precept, " Es ist verboten," 
has been so drummed into them that they accept all 
regulations and orders without any further demur. I 
do believe that if they were bidden to go out and eat 



BERLIN, JUNE-JULY 1917 177 

grass, they would obey in herds, without any further 
question. 

A common soldier, now working in our harvest, just 
returned from the front, spoke so nicely of all the hard- 
ships they had to endure. He had no bitterness for the 
enemy. The English, he said, were fine men to fight 
against, and he personally had never witnessed any of 
the desperate cruelty and intense hatred he is always 
told of behind the lines. 

" We all do our best for our own country, and if we 
meet as prisoners or otherwise, we are perfectly friendly ; 
but," he added sadly, " there must be something wrong 
somewhere to make us so hated by all other nations, as 
well as by our own alhes. Who is to blame for it ? 
That is what my comrades and I are always trying to 
find out." 

He went on to say that the English army is in splendid 
condition, and always being reinforced by fresh and 
perfectly equipped troops, whilst the Germans have only 
a tired and worn-out army to meet them. Many of the 
men in the trenches, having been wounded three or four 
times, are now so exhausted that they can hardly Uft a 
rifle. 

Here is another criticism, this time from an officer. 
He says : " England is more practical in her organization, 
and is not so hemmed in by red tape as we are. She 
selects the best men to command, irrespective of rank 
and age, and only according to their efficiency." 

In Germany a strict order of routine and promotion 
is followed, hence the continual spectacle of the wrong 
man in the wrong place. 

Another cause of discontent in the army is that no 
officer can be promoted before having served a certain 
number of years, however many vacancies may occur. 
Many hundreds of heutenants are doing the work of 
captains and majors, but they must retain the rank of a 
lieutenant in order to avoid the extra pay. This causes 

N 



178 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

much murmuring, which is obviously dangerous, as the 
Emperor should do everything to keep the army on his 
side. 

Berlin, August 1917. — I have been passing an un- 
speakably mournful morning at the " Nachlass Bureau," 
where any small articles picked up upon the battlefield 
are kept for identification, A feehng of hopeless sadness 
crept over me as I saw these trays of things, the only 
mementoes left of men who had such a short time ago 
been aUve in the full flush of manhood. There was a 
whole stack of battered and blood-stained cigarette-cases, 
some with inscriptions or monograms engraved on them, 
many containing small photos or a few written words 
by the giver. Then there were all the other various 
small articles generally to be found in a man's pocket 
— ^fountain-pens, handkerchiefs, torn letters, purses, coins, 
etc. ; and I felt the tears come into my eyes when I 
thought of what value they would be to some in England 
now, and how almost impossible it is to identify even a 
small number of them. I had a long list of missing 
articles with me, sent by sorrowful or (worse still) hopeful 
women in England ; and with the sjnnpathetic help of 
the two Red Cross officers in charge, and by dint of 
arduous and painful work, at the end of the morning I 
had managed to identify one or two cigarette cases and 
a few other small articles, which we had forwarded through 
the Red Cross to the expectant owners in England. 
But how few they were, and alas ! how few ever wiU be 
claimed. Time will gradually thrust them aside to the 
other inevitable lumber of the war, and they will never 
come into the hands of those to whom they would be 
relics of great worth. 

Krieblowitz, October 1917. — Yesterday I got a letter 
from my husband, who has gone up to town for the 
opening of the Herrenhaus, with an interesting piece 
of news in it. He writes : " I learnt from L. that my 
former chief (Erzberger) was actually abroad, tr5dng to 



KRIEBLOWITZ, OCTOBER 1917 i79 

establish peace negotiations on a financial basis, namely 
an International Financial and Economic Trust ; which, 
however, is said to have failed on account of the joint 
capital of the other side (meaning the two biggest 
financial Powers) always being able to overrule us." 

This failure, were it generally known, would meet with 
a triumphant howl of applause from the "Vaterlands- 
partei," who are doing all they can to oppose any move- 
ments made by the Catholic and pacific elements. 

Strange to say, the clergy of the Protestant Church 
are also in favour of the continuation of the war ; and 
only lately have a small party of Protestant pastors in 
Berhn had the courage to make a move towards peace 
by collecting signatures for a Peace Protest. They are 
as a matter of fact State officials, and more or less bound 
to think as they are told in State affairs, which may 
explain the phenomenon of men of God urging their 
flocks on to kill one another. Perhaps, too, a feeling of 
hostihty prevents their following any lead headed by 
the Pope. " We hope for a good German peace from 
God, and not a bad international one from the Pope," 
is their war-cry at present. 

I hear that the Enghsh are daily gaining ground, and 
are slowly but surely approaching the object of their 
aim, the U-boat base of operations. A letter I received 
a short time ago confirms me in my opinion that the 
EngUsh are not merely fighting to pass away the time. 
G. wrote to me to-day that they are now quite near to 
the commanding heights near the coast. " If this is 
the case, then the Marine Corps and the coast in Flanders, 
which is aU-important to us, might get endangered." 

I see that the EngUsh view of operations on the West 
is that the Germans have been retiring for a whole year, 
and that Verdun, Champagne, Vimy, Arras, Messines, 
Langemarck, Westhoek, and Zonnebeke are but stages 
in an uninterrupted retreat. For us civilians looking 
on, the whole campaign seems to be more or less a useless 



i8o AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

slaughter, and one is only able to bear the horror of it 
by hearing and reading stories of the heroism and self- 
sacrifice of individual man towards man. 

The story of the German soldier who the other day 
was buried in a shell-hole together with an English officer, 
badly wounded in the thigh, and whose life he managed 
to save by stopping the bleeding artery with his two 
thumbs, himself weak and ill, and in a crouched position, 
is a deed not quite in character with that of a " Hun." 

The regulations as to smuggling provisions are very 
strict, and a funny scene took place at the station in 
Breslau the other day. A well-dressed, dignified-looking 
lady appeared at the luggage-room with the object of 
checking her trunk. Her flurried mien, and the obvious 
nervousness with which she hurried on the porter to weigh 
her trunk, aroused the suspicions of the station-master. 
The trunk was promptly opened, and to the surprise 
of the amused onlookers a whole pig was discovered in 
it. It was confiscated and sold in the town at the official 
price, to the great discomfiture of the stately lady. 

Things of this sort are of daily occurrence, and yet 
people go on trying them over and over again. The strict 
regulations seem very superfluous, and are causing much 
bad blood amongst the people in the towns. We in the 
country could, in fact, help them very often in many 
ways if we were allowed to do so. 

As it is, people try to obtain by force or stealth what 
they cannot get in a legal way. The following incident 
gives an idea of what is being attempted in some way or 
other daily. 

The other day a very fine field-grey military motor- 
car appeared on our place, and its four occupants began 
shooting to their hearts' content. Nobody disturbed 
them, or asked them on what authority they were there, 
for people took it for granted that they had been sent by 
the Government. After having satisfied their needs they 
departed, and it was only discovered a day afterwards 



KRIEBLOWITZ, OCTOBER 1917 181 

that they were poachers pure and simple, who certainly 
had a glorious time. How they managed to get hold of 
a military auto no one can imagine. 

Last week we spent a day at Fiirstenstein with Prince 
and Princess Pless. Prince and Princess Biron, Countess 
Saurma and her daughters were there too. Princess 
Pless and I being EngUsh, Princess Biron French, and 
Countess Saurma Pohsh, our conversation was at times 
what our husbands describe as " dangerous," which, being 
translated, means, we criticize the German Government 
and methods too loudly. In one thing, however, we all 
agree, and that is that our husbands are very lenient 
with us ; and that it is owing to their consideration and 
thoughtfulness towards us, and the loyal way in which 
they have stood by us, that Ufe in a hostile country has 
been endurable. And without being over-duly proud, I 
may confess that my husband is the one who has the 
best reputation of being clever enough to fight my battles 
without being disloyal to his Emperor and country. At 
Fiirstenstein we talked " England " until the walls of the 
old castle must have wearied of the word. 

Prince Pless, who is always with the Emperor at Head- 
quarters, described to us his Hfe there, and the Emperor's 
triumphant entry into Riga, at which he assisted. 

And now for a description of the state of poHtics here. 
Everything is very unsettled. Michaehs has proved quite 
unsatisfactory and has given place to a better man. 
They say some sixteen candidates are on the hst, Biilow 
being first in the running in the minds of many. Solf 
has been proposed, and Erzberger, as the strong man, 
would not be unpopular to the democrats, although I see 
the Times calls his policy " murky and deceitful at the 
best." 

Kiihlmann, they say, was offered the Chancellorship 
too, but very wisely refused, knowing his own limitations. 
" I know I am suitable for my present position as Foreign 
Secretary, but I am unsuitable to be Reichskanzler, as I 



i82 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

am utterly ignorant of inner politics." People have a 
good deal of confidence in him here, and feel that he is 
the right man in the right place. He, as well as the new 
Kanzler, certainly have their work cut out for them when 
one thinks that Germany is at present ostracized and 
ahenated from three-quarters of the human race. 

We hear that aeroplanes (either English or French) 
have done enormous damage to Frankfort and other 
towns in the south, 50 to 60 people being killed during 
a raid on Frankfort in one afternoon. And Princess 
Mettemich, who has a large castle outside Wiesbaden, 
had to leave her bed three times in one night and take 
refuge in the cellar, Enghsh shrapnel being found in the 
courtyard next morning. 

All internal disputes and disagreements are disappear- 
ing for the moment, being swallowed up in the vital 
conflict of the two great parties, the democrats and 
the " Vaterlandspartei," which is daily increasing in 
vehemence. 

People are devoured with anxiety as to the food 
resources for the coming winter, whilst the Government 
has to cope with much more serious questions, were it 
only known — namely, the increasing shortage of raw stuff 
and material for ammunition. 

Has the " enemy " already noticed, I wonder, that 
the German ammunition is not as good as it was ? Thank 
God, it only inflicts shght wounds now, and if they search 
the " Casualty List " in the Times with the same throbbing 
heart as I do, they will notice that the list of wounded 
is now much longer than that terrible heart-breaking hst 
of dead and missing that used to appear during the first 
eighteen months of the war. 

There are other signs, too, pathetic in their way, of 
the increasing scarcity of metal, for everywhere the old 
church bells and even the organ-pipes are being dragged 
from the churches and turned into ammunition ; whilst 



KRIEBLOWITZ, OCTOBER 1917 183 

owing to the scarcity of oil the Sanctuary lamp, such a 
dear famihar sight in CathoUc churches, may no longer 
shed its tender light before the Tabernacle. 

In L., a small town near here, a sad little ceremony 
took place the other day. The ancient church bell, which 
had rung the people from the cradle to the grave for 
300 years and more, was requisitioned by the military 
authorities. The grief felt by the inhabitants was so 
great that they determined to do their ancient friend 
all the honour that they could ; and after having per- 
formed the regular funeral service for the dead over it, 
a procession was formed, headed by the priest in his 
vestments, with his acolytes swinging their incense, and 
the inhabitants following the bell, which was covered 
with wreaths and flowers and handed over to the military 
authorities under tears and protestations. 

As coffee and tea have entirely run out, all sorts of 
berries and leaves are being used as a surrogate. Chest- 
nuts are used for feeding the deer, and it is interesting to 
see the children, who are not old enough to work other- 
wise, busy plucking and collecting the different things. 

Nothing seems to be left unused — salad-oil being ex- 
tracted from every kind of fruit-stone, and an excellent 
oil for greasing machinery is being pressed from the seeds 
of sunflowers. It is marvellous how much has been 
produced in this way, and it is only a pity we cannot 
use the latter for cooking and eating purposes too. 

The difficulty of getting butter is increasing daily, and 
one has to use aU one's power of persuasion to be able to 
entice a miserable quarter of a pound of it, after having 
begged in vain at quite a number of small peasants' houses. 

The fact is, the peasants have to hand over a certain 
amount of butter to the miUtary authorities, who, if they 
do not get the proper quantity, keep back the peasant's 
monthly supply of sugar. And as every one is longing 
for their sugar, and jam cannot be made without it, no 
one wiU sell their butter even for very high prices. For 
the fortunate people who grow sugar-beet there can, of 



i84 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

course, never be any dearth of sweet-stuffs, for the beet 
pressed produces a most delicious syrup which can easily 
be eaten for honey. But if it is difficult to sweeten one's 
lot at present, it is just as difficult to season one's cook- 
ing, for the prices of pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg are 
enormous. These spices are almost worth their weight 
in gold. 

Lighting will prove a great problem this winter, as 
there is almost no petroleum or methylated spirits to be 
had ; gas-hght is next to impossible, on account of the 
small quantity allowed, and electric-hght is also limited. 
I am surprised that people in the country do not attempt 
the old way of Ughting by means of pine torches. True, 
they give more smoke than light, but it would be prefer- 
able to the gloom of the unlighted houses in the country. 

This darkness is especially unpleasant for the people 
in the town who have to wait for the vegetables and 
fruit coming in from the country. Our gardener, who 
goes in daily, tells me that they stand for hours and 
hours patiently waiting to get but a pound of cabbage, 
onions, etc., which are all very scarce indeed. Luckily 
for the purchasers, maximum prices have been settled on 
all eatables, or it would be impossible for the poorer 
classes to get anything at all. And still the small peasants, 
landowners, and gardeners are all growing very prosperous, 
and our gardener, who only has about two acres of land 
at his disposal, made 10,000 marks last year. 

In addition to the " card " plague, which is bringing 
every one to the verge of the lunatic asylum, we have 
the " Bezugschein " (official voucher), which is now 
necessary for almost every scrap of clothing needed by 
poor shivering humanity to cover themselves. Every- 
thing is on the hst, dresses, mantles, coats, stockings, 
shoes, gloves, washing ; and you have to give a list 
of everything you possess before getting the precious 
" Schein " handed out to you. 

Berlin, January 1918. — The days come and go, and 



BERLIN, JANUARY 1918 185 

we have already crossed the borderland and have left the 
gloom of the old year, only to enter the darkness of a 
new one. Every hour brings its fears, disappointments, 
and vague hopes, so that there is but little time for collect- 
ing one's scattered ideas. 

Christmas was, of course, but a sorry season, although 
the unexpected and seemingly successful peace movement 
in Russia undoubtedly created a brighter atmosphere for 
people here than they have known since the war began, 
Brest-Litovsk, mingled with the divine proclamation of 
" Peace upon earth and goodwill amongst men," moved 
our hearts to a new throb of hope. It remains to be seen 
how far people are justified in beheving this to be the 
first weak wavelet of the great peace-tide which is gradu- 
ally but surely going to inundate Europe. 

The mihtary party, the " raving Rolands," are doing 
all they can to obstruct the peace movement, and Luden- 
dorff and Kiihlmann have almost come to blows. There 
were some exciting scenes between the two last week, and 
people have told me that the cold-blooded, strong-nerved, 
impassive Kiihlmann was almost on the verge of a break- 
down. More and more he and his adherents are per- 
ceiving the fatal mistakes of the U-boat war, and the 
madness of ever allowing things to go so far that America 
should enter the war. But, of course, Kiihlmann has a 
great many enemies, as he has already turned out all the 
old Excellencies who were having such an easy time in 
the Foreign Office here, and publicly makes it known 
that his diplomatic creed discredits the arts and tricks of 
the old school. At any rate there is a breathless tussle 
going on, and things are being hurried along, I suppose, 
to avoid the American reinforcements in the spring, 
although the Germans are still inclined to scoff and jeer 
at the American soldiers. 

I myself wait and watch, firm in the behef that England 
knows what she is about, even though it looks as if she 
were losing touch with her old allies at present. In fact. 



i86 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

I feel like the English prisoner whom a friend met in 
some obscure country place a short time ago. He was 
sitting by the roadside breaking stones, and when she 
asked how long he had been a prisoner, and if he ever 
saw any newspapers, and who he thought would win the 
war, he answered that he had been there for three years, 
that he had never seen any paper of any kind, but that 
he never doubted for a moment that England would be 
victorious in the end. He could not explain why, but 
something told him " there," and he touched his fore- 
head. 

Lloyd George's Paris speech made a great impression 
on us, and M., as well as myself, thought it was quite 
right of him to try and wake people up to the fact that 
strategic blunders have been caused by the military 
authorities of the Entente not all acting together. What- 
ever one may think of the grave errors he committed in 
his abusive speeches against Germany, he certainly has 
the courage of his opinion, and is not afraid of making 
himself unpopular. 

The other evening at a reception at the Solfs' we met 
a rather interesting man, a certain Herr Hahn, whom 
they have just got over from England to inform them as 
to the state of political feeling there. From him we 
learnt that Sir W. TyrreU, whose health had broken down 
after the loss of his son at the beginning of the war, was 
no longer in office, but is working behind the scenes for 
Sir Edward Grey, whose party, including Lord Lansdowne, 
Balfour, Lord Loreburn, Lord Courtney, and Noel Buxton, 
are working openly for peace, and doing all they can to 
oppose Lord Northcliffe's war pohcy, especially Sir W. 
Tyrrell. 

He asserts, too, that if the nation does not support 
Lansdowne's pohcy there will be a Labour Government in 
England, and that in any case Lloyd George's days are 
nimibered. He seems to think that the Labour Party 
will gradually gain the ascendancy in aU countries through- 



BERLIN, JANUARY 1918 187 

out Europe, which may lead to civil war here as well as in 
England. This, I think myself, is not improbable. If the 
war continues much longer the people will follow Russia's 
example and take the matter into their own hands. 

The Hohenzollems, they say, are perfectly aware of 
their own uncertain position, and a remark said to have 
been made by the Crown Prince is being repeated every- 
where : " I'm young enough to find another job, but 
what will happen to the old man if we have to go ? " 

As concerns matters here there is a never-ending crisis 
in Government affairs going on. Hindenburg and Luden- 
dorff, as well as the Crown Prince, are in Berlin, and 
important conferences are always taking place, the 
Lithuanian and PoUsh question being the most difficult 
to decide. Kiihlmann's position is more shaky than 
ever, and Hertling is reported to have been " ill " for 
some days past. 

They say the scene between Ludendorff and Kiihlmann 
the other day was indescribable. They shouted at one 
another so loudly that their voices were heard some three 
or four stories above. Ludendorff appears bent on be- 
coming mihtary dictator, and his opponents will be done 
for if that comes about. 

" Talk of an angel and you will hear his wings." 
Ludendorff is so often in my thoughts that I was not 
surprised this morning at breakfast when, happening to 
look out of the window, I saw both him and Hindenburg 
pass by on their early morning stroll into the Tiergarten, 
as they are in the habit of doing when they are in Berlin 
for a few days. They were greeted with great enthusiasm 
by the passers-by, and a respectful crowd followed them 
at a short distance. 

It has become almost impossible to get out of Germany 
now, however urgent the need may be, if one is of aUen 
birth. Only a short time ago my friend Baroness 



i88 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Stemburg, the American wife of the former Ambassador 
in Constantinople, who had a passport to visit her sister- 
in-law in Stockholm, was at the last moment forbidden 
to go without being told the reason why. Imagine her 
position : an empty flat, no servants, and nothing to eat. 
The same thing happened to Frau von M., an ItaUan 
by birth, and the widow of one of the most influential 
bankers in Berhn. She had been advised by her doctors 
to visit a sanatorium in Switzerland ; a passport had 
been granted and the day fixed for her departure, when 
she was suddenly informed that the permit had been 
cancelled. Of course there is always some woman in 
the background who, from petty spite, has denounced the 
victims as " deutschfeindUch " to the pohce authorities. 

My eldest brother has been lying very ill in a hospital, 
which to me seems providential, or he would have been 
in the fierce fight. 

My other two brothers and my brother-in-law are still 
in the thick of the fighting, and my nephew, whom I 
left a boy at school, is now a cavalry officer in one of 
the most dangerous and exposed positions. How odd 
it is to see the next generation cropping up and already 
responsible for the life and death of so many of their 
fellow-creatures, whilst we passively look on, superfluous 
units in the great struggle of the world. 

I have received a letter from my sister, Lady Charlton, 
from Cape Town, dated November 28, in which she 
mentions a curious coincidence. The officers under her 
husband's command were ordered to bring in all the 
foreign rifles found in South Africa, and amongst others 
one was brought in with my husband's monogram en- 
graved on it. It was the one which he had used out 
there fourteen years ago. I am glad to hear that she 
says he has still many friends out there. 

Outside the snow is falling thicker and thicker, and 



BERLIN. JANUARY 1918 189 

the trees are covered with soft glittering layers of frozen 
snow. It is almost impossible to clear the tracks of 
the tramways, and the traffic is being obstructed all 
over the town. Crowds of people are waiting at every 
stopping-place to force an entrance into the over-filled 
cars ; most of them, of course, have to reach their 
destination on foot. Berlin will soon be cut off from the 
rest of the world if the snow continues much longer, 
and the white-carpeted streets will be given over to an 
unknown silence and loneUness. 

Yesterday was quite a great day, as the Herrenhaus met 
after a long pause, and Graf Hertling made his appearance 
for the first time as Kanzler. As he is a Bavarian and a 
Catholic, his debut was looked upon with very mixed 
feelings, as it is a long time since a Roman Cathohc was 
Chancellor of Germany. The House was packed with 
members ready to tear his speech to rags. He has a 
great party against him, and there are all sorts of under- 
hand intrigues going on. His speech was rather dis- 
appointing, as people had been expecting a detailed 
discussion of the " peace " question and a criticism of 
Lloyd George's pohcy, but it seems at the last moment 
that he was obliged to change his tactics owing to new 
developments in the pohcy of the Entente. 

His short simple speech met with a good deal of 
mahcious criticism, and we heard afterwards from Prince 
Miinster, who joined us with Graf Magnis in the gallery, 
that Prince Biilow had been loud in his disdainful com- 
ments on what Graf Hertling said. 

It was very interesting to see all these ex-Ministers, 
ex-Kanzlers, and ambitious nobles who, hke the robber- 
barons of mediaeval times, are quite ready to rebel and 
turn the Kaiser off the throne if he does not fall in with 
their wishes. Biilow and Tirpitz especially wore an 
expression on their faces which boded no good for Graf 
Herthng. But Graf Hertling is an old statesman, weU 
versed in the devious struggles of modem pohtics, and 
will be able to hold his own, in spite of its being said that 



I90 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

he is too much of a diplomat and not enough of a 
statesman. 

Besides Graf Hertling, the Vice-Chancellor von Payer 
is also a Bavarian, and one can judge from this fact 
what strong motives there must be for allowing the 
Bavarians to take such a prominent part in the govern- 
ment of the Empire. It seems to be necessary, for the 
war has so intensified the antagonism already existing 
between the Bavarians and the Prussians that they say 
the hatred of the former for the " Sau-Preussen " (Pigs 
of Prussians) knows no bounds, and they allow no food 
to be sent to Prussia, although there is a superabundance 
in some parts of Bavaria. 

The feeling towards the Kaiser is steadily diminishing 
in loyalty and respect, and the same people who greeted 
him so warmly a short time ago with " Ave, Caesar ! " 
are now distributing leaflets in the back streets of Berlin 
proclaiming, " Down with the Kaiser, down with the 
Government," and the pohce, when called upon to 
suppress the evil-doers, refuse to act, and are more than 
suspected of being behind the movement themselves. 

From Herr Hahn, whom my husband met at the 
Solfs' last week, he heard that he had just been to The 
Hague and had spoken with an English delegate who 
informed him that England would only agree to nego- 
tiate with Germany if she consented to withdraw from 
Belgium, but not otherwise. And as the military party 
here will in no wise consent to this, I suppose things will 
go on indefinitely as they are. 

The Brest-Litovsk negotiations seem Ukely to come 
to nothing, as Trotsky seems to be plajdng a double part, 
and people say he is only toying with the Central Powers 
to be better able to sow the seeds of sedition and rebelUon 
amongst the West-European peoples. They say that 
already the German prisoners have been set free in 
Russia, and that common soldiers are being placed in 
command over their former officers. 



BERLIN, JANUARY 1918 191 

There are many different opinions about Trotsky here, 
some calling him a dreamer and idealist, others abusing 
him as a bloodthirsty tyrant ; whilst there is a whole 
class of admirers who declare him to be the greatest 
man since Christ lived upon earth, and the prophet of 
a new reUgion which is to regenerate mankind and create 
a new paradise after the deluge of the war. 

Who knows what part this man may be going to play 
in the future fates of Europe ? Some 120 years ago 
people were saying almost the same things of a certain 
unknown httle officer who out of the reign of terror 
and bloodshed developed into the vampire-emperor, who 
almost succeeded in draining the blood of all Europe. 

Berlin, January 1918. — ^A more cheerful note in the 
gloom of universal antagonism is the news of the accom- 
plished exchange of wounded officers and soldiers, and the 
repatriation of the interned British in Ruhleben over 45 
years of age. I see that one party of men who were cap- 
tured at Mons on August 24, 1914, arrived at The Hague 
December 30, whilst another party of 412 men have been 
distributed in various camps in Switzerland. One can 
imagine their feelings at again being free to come and go 
as they hke. The hideous nightmare of barbed wire 
fences which has so often called forth a passing form of 
neurasthenia amongst the prisoners is a thing of the 
past. 

It has been a rehef to us, and at the same time a 
cause of sadness, as our work is done. We had watched 
and worked for these countrymen of ours against so 
many odds, and as if in the dark, never having the 
satisfaction of knowing the result of our efforts ; and now 
they are leaving, and our self-formed band of helpers 
will automatically be dissolved. A " left behind " feehng 
comes over us, the same as we used to experience when 
one by one the Embassies left as their various countries 
declared war. 

We had divided ourselves methodically into branches. 



192 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Princess Miinster, Princess Pless, and I, all being English, 
had undertaken the correspondence as regards wounded 
and missing English, and the supply, as far as we were 
allowed, to officers and men of extras in the way of 
" unobtainable necessaries." Princess Biron being French 
had done the same for the French, and Princess Isenburg 
and the Duchess of Croy, both being American by birth, 
had undertaken the French and Belgians as well, the 
latter principally helping the Belgians, as, her husband 
being partly Belgian, their S5niipathies were much with 
that country. She had even obtained permission to 
visit their cousin Princess Marie of Croy when she was 
imprisoned after her trial at the same time as Miss 
Cavell. 

I wish I could add here a few of the letters we have 
received from and about the wounded and missing and 
prisoners of war. In this work all my family have 
helped incessantly, especially my sisters Edith and 
Monica, whose weekly letters have enabled us to 
glean an enormous amount of information for anxious 
relatives at home. Cecil Tempest, too, my great 
friend, has been an invaluable assistant. Their cor- 
respondence would almost form a book of its own. I 
must have received over a thousand letters from all 
parts of the world, and in this way one has learned 
so much of the sorrow and anxiety that war has 
brought about. One got to know the position of 
regiments, the districts where peasants could be de- 
pended on for information, or where doctors of the 
Lazaretts were humane and ready to help, or vice 
versa ; and, last but not least, we were sometimes the 
sole possessors of information as to the whereabouts 
of some lonely English grave, which, if it had not been 
for the kindUness of some German officer acquaintance 
of ours, who went out of his way to obtain the name 
and particulars for us, would, maybe, have remained for 
ever unclaimed and unidentified. 

All this will one day be published by some one, or 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1918 193 

some society whose object will be to improve the treat- 
ment and conditions of prisoners of war in all countries 
before the next war. I sincerely hope that one great 
and important change in this branch of warfare will be 
that all prisoners may be held on parole. 

Berlin, February 1918. — Strikes are breaking out in 
different parts, leading to disturbances which have already 
caused the deaths of a few unfortunate policemen. They 
are at present only sporadic, and are hushed up as much 
as possible, every one, even the Socialists, dreading the 
responsibiUty of civil war. But I have the feeling myself 
that they are growing and uniting Uke an elastic belt 
which may tighten any day and make itself very dis- 
agreeably felt. 

Next to us, in Tattersall's, there are fifty poUcemen 
stationed night and day, which I can't say makes one 
feel safer, for it rather looks as if some special demonstra- 
tion were being planned for the front-door of Berlin, the 
Brandenburger Tor, which means our front-door too. 

My old friend the Commandant of Berlin, General 
Kessel, is doing his best to stir up the troubled waters 
by stamping with his heavy foot and rattling with his 
iron fist. 

We are now entirely at the mercy of the military 
courts of justice, and after sentence has been pronounced 
there is no further court of appeal possible for the 
delinquent ; and any one who strikes is being sent off to 
the front at once. In the darkest days of serfdom men 
could not have been more in a state of slavery than we 
are in these days of militarism. 

The Kaiser himself lives in a constant state of fear, 
anonymous letters being often sent to the gentlemen- 
in- waiting, threatening that he will be shot. The other 
day there was some special service in the Dom, and we 
saw the motors of the Emperor and Empress flpng by 
like lightning as they went there. A pubUc ovation was 
given him when he quitted the church, but they say he 

o 



194 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

only answered with a curt grim greeting and drove away 
with the same speed he had come. 

Things are not cheerful, it must be owned, and yet 
there is an almost insatiable craving for pleasure of any 
kind amongst every class of society. It is as if the long- 
repressed desire for amusement innate in human nature 
is now breaking forth stronger than ever, and as there 
is money enough in circulation, the theatres, cinemas, 
and concert halls are crowded to overflowing, utterly 
unlike the preceding years when tickets had to be given 
away to get any audience at all. Every one is anxious 
to forget the depression of the times and get rid of the 
heavy burden of sorrow and care which has so long been 
clogging and depressing public and private life, and 
" Merry Evenings " and dancing matinees are being 
organized everywhere, assisted by the greatest artistes of 
the day, to try and raise the flagging spirits of the nation. 

Private dances and balls, which were so long forbidden, 
are again coming into fashion, and the concert-teas at the 
great hotels are increasing in price as the food offered 
decreases in quaUty. 

Our social gatherings are somewhat monotonous, the 
circle of our personal acquaintances being so limited in 
comparison with two years ago. The American and 
Greek Embassies were then here ; but in consequence of 
Germany's " splendid isolation " of to-day we now have 
to depend chiefly on the representatives of the few 
countries which still keep up diplomatic relations. Here 
is a programme of our festivities last week. We had a 
dinner-party at the Dutch Minister's, Baron Gevers, who 
is looking after the interests of the British prisoners of 
war. Then there was luncheon at the Spanish Embassy, 
where the Spanish Ambassador, Ex, Polo, confided to 
me that they are practically living on their trunks, as 
any day may bring notice to leave Berlin, as America 
and England are doing all they can to force Spain to 
side with the Entente and take part in the war. 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1918 195 

Then there was a dinner at the Rizoffs', the Bulgarian 
Minister and his wife, which was rather interesting, she 
being rather a lovely woman, the acknowledged beauty 
of the diplomatic corps, and he a clever man, with an 
unlimited faith in Bulgaria and the Bulgarians, not to 
forget himself. He has just written a book in the one 
language he knows. It concerns the future of Europe, 
and he has had it translated into four languages for the 
benefit of " the other world " which does not speak his 
own. He is to a certain degree modest in his views, and 
is just in his partition of Europe, for he leaves BerUn 
to the Austrians, and only appropriates the rest for 
Bulgaria. 

Besides the aforementioned there are of course the 
Austrian Embassy, with Prince Hohenlohe as Ambassador, 
and his wife, the Archduchess ; Count and Countess 
Moltke of the Danish Embassy ; and Baron Essen, the 
Swedish Ambassador, with his newly married wife. 
Then there are Princess Taxis, Count and Countess 
Larisch, Baroness Stemburg, Count and Countess 
Henckel, Prince and Princess Lowenstein, and the young 
diplomats and secretaries of the diplomatic corps. 

The great problem is how to provide for our guests, 
and each course is duly commented on and discussed, 
the origin and adventures connected with it forming the 
chief topic of conversation. 

I may add that England is unconsciously bearing the 
burden of our dinners, for the food which we manage to 
get generally comes from Belgium, and has been sent 
over for the Belgians. 

Herr von Jagow was here for a week, and as he was 
ill, he held a sort of levee in his room every evening, 
where my husband, Kiihlmann, and others met to discuss 
affairs. They all agree that Germany is in a terrible 
plight and, as the Empress' brother. Prince Ernst Giinther, 
said at a dinner the other evening, " Germany is going 
to the devil." 

And yet the militarists continue babbling about the 



196 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

great victory that is to mean the final triumph of the 
Central Powers and the speedy entry into Paris and the 
taking of Calais by means of the new big guns. Why 
this must mean the end of the war I cannot comprehend, 
for it has proved the tragical destiny of Germany rmtil 
now, that the greater her success on the field of battle 
the more complicated does her political and economical 
position become. 

The chief theme of conversation with American friends 
is their ever-increasing scarcity of money, as they cannot 
get any from America. They tell me that if Germany 
cannot or will not pay the indemnity demanded of her 
at the end of the war, the private fortunes of German- 
Americans will be seized upon to pay it, and are accord- 
ingly in a great fright. In their letters from America 
they say they are being constantly advised to leave 
Germany as soon as possible, to take all their money 
from the banks, and on no account to deposit it in Swiss 
banks, but to hoard it up in the good old-fashioned 
stocking. 

The unfortunate part of the matter for them is that 
no one may now leave Germany or go to Switzerland, 
with the exception of theatrical troupes, etc., so that if 
one wants to get out of the mouse-trap the only way left 
is to become a ballet-girl or wandering musician. 

This severity about granting passports is carried to 
such lengths as to become ridiculous very often, and 
Princess Lowenstein told me that so many difficulties 
were being made about her getting her six - weeks' - old 
twins to Austria that they might be the most dangerous 
political suspects. 

The atmosphere here is growing more and more demo- 
cratic, and one is forcibly reminded sometimes of Paris 
in the early days of the Revolution, when the people 
became more and more conscious of their terrible power. 
All outward distinctions of class and rank have to be 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1918 197 

avoided as much as possible, and even the few sorry 
carriage horses still permitted may not show any silver 
on their harness. 

The proletariat are daily growing more touchy and 
jealous of their rights, and the numerous parvenus who 
have grown rich through the war are especially detested. 
Finer distinctions are not always made, of course, and 
any one wearing a fur mantle or a specially well-made 
pair of boots is suspected of being a " Kriegs-Gewinner." 
It is no uncommon occurrence in these days of gloom and 
fog that the happy possessors of such things are spied 
out and followed, robbed of boots and furs, and forced 
to walk home in their stockings. 

TravelUng is one of the most difficult problems of the 
day, the trains being all over-filled, and such delays take 
place that one can imagine oneself back in the good old 
days of mail-coaches. Princess Isenburg told me that the 
other day she had places reserved for her in Munich for the 
train to Berlin, and on arriving at the station a whole 
hour beforehand, she found not only her own places 
already taken, but the whole train so overcrowded that 
the guard told her there was no room for her at all. and 
no fuss might be made as the people would make a 
disturbance. After a great many useless remonstrances 
she was able at last to persuade the station-niaster to 
help her, and he actually had to lead her through the 
whole station, cross the goods-yard, pass through five 
intervening trains, and thus ignominiously enter the 
train from the other side, so as not to be seen by the people. 

Another example of the spirit of the times : — Countess 

H told me she was travelling the other day with her 

three daughters from Leipzig to Berlin. They had taken 
first-class tickets, but found their compartment over- 
crowded, as usual. One of their neighbours, a stout 
gentleman looking like a " Kriegs-Gewinner " of the 
worst kind, seems to have been especially objection- 
able to her eighteen-years-old daughter, who whispered 
incautiously in her mother's ear, " If we had known we 



198 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

had to travel with the Plebs we might just as well have 
gone third class." Unfortunately the stout man heard 
this remark, and made the most dreadful scene imaginable. 
He stopped the train, called in the guard, and complained. 

Countess H insisted on her daughter apologizing, 

which, however, did not appease the good man's wrath, for 
the whole way he continued fuming at the bad manners 
of the aristocracy, and not content with this he has actu- 
ally brought a suit against the girl for abuse in pubhc. 

Another incident which occurred but a short time ago 
was that of one of the Empress' ladies-in-waiting, who 
was forced to take a tram, the roads being too bad for 
the horses. The tram was full of working-men, who 
began abusing the Kaiser so violently that she felt herself 
called upon to defend him. She assured them that he 
was a very kind man, filled with the feehng of his great 
responsibihty. This, however, only increased their anger, 
which was now turned on her, so that she had to get out 
of the tram to escape further abuse. 

Berlin, March 1918. — I have lately been boiling with 
resentment against the whole German nation, owing to 
their official red tape which refused to allow me to go 
and see my cousin Captain Trafford, en route for Holland, 
where he has now gone with the rest of the repatriated 
officers from Germany. 

For the last three years I have been periodically 
sending in an official apphcation to be allowed to go and 
visit him, as, after all, he is my first cousin and is like a 
brother to me. The authorities never refused me out- 
right, always putting me off with answers either that I 
may see him in a few months' time, or when he goes to 
another camp, or when he passes through BerUn ; and 
getting a bit tired of these evasive answers, I began 
asking for a more decided date to be fixed, and the 
answer was that they promised me he should not leave 
the country without my seeing him. One day in February 
I got a telegram saying that in three days' time he would 



BERLIN, MARCH 1918 199 

be passing through Aachen station en route for Holland, 
and that I might go and see him at the station. I 
obtained a travelUng permit, secured reserved seats for 
myself and maid, and filled in all sorts of forms, when 
an hour or so before starting I received another notice 
to say that the commander of the camp had exceeded 
his rights in giving me permission and that the military 
station-master would not allow me to go on the platform, 
as owing to the coming offensive the place was reserved 
for troops alone. 

I was dumb with disappointment and rage, and my 

friend Baroness S came in that evening, also laden 

with a grievance, as she had just had a passport given 
her to go and visit her sister in Copenhagen, and within 
twenty-four hours of starting it was taken away. So 
we were suitable companions in our mutual grievances, 
and consoled ourselves by giving free vent to our feelings 
on the subject. It was one more example of over- 
organization ; give with one hand and take away with 
the other. The disappointment brought on such an 
attack of home-sickness that I took a long time getting 
over it ; and as my husband was absent in Vienna for 
a month it made it still harder. I consoled myself by 
picturing the rehef and joy it must have been to my 
cousin to be " on his own " once more, able to shake off 
the dust of the German prison camps from his feet 
for ever. 

My cousin in his first letter from Holland told me that 
the of&cials at Aachen station had told him I had tele- 
graphed to say "that I was too busy to come and see him." 

From all the letters I get from home I can read between 
the lines that a great offensive is pending in the West, 
but that the Entente are perfectly prepared for any 
emergency. So minute is their knowledge of the pre- 
parations on the German front, that the French papers 
are full of surprise that the enemy let week after week 
of the splendid March weather go by without making a 



200 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

move. The fact is probably that Ludendorff has to be 
perfectly certain of how many fresh divisions he can 
count on from Russia before beginning the most danger- 
ous and uncertain adventure of the whole war. As 
most people say here, it is a case of " to be or not to be," 
and the miUtarists are throwing the gauntlet to fate in 
their own way. 

The Russian Peace, although greeted with a great 
show of flags and ringing of bells and universal holidays 
for the school-children, has on the whole been received 
with shakes of the head and disbeUef in the duration 
of such a treaty. Fighting still continues between the 
German troops and the Red Guards, and one hears horrible 
stories of bloodshed and anarchy. Not only are German 
officers and soldiers being murdered in their beds and 
their houses set on fire over their heads, but many great 
Russian magnates are being treated in the same way. 
The Germans here are all boasting of the future happy 
state of the country when it has come to know the blessings 
of Prussian law and order, whilst the Annexationists 
and ImperiaHsts are pluming their feathers in great style, 
under the pretext of re-establishing pubUc order. A 
German armed force now occupies territories whose 
populations are pre-eminently Russian, and the Commer- 
cial Treaty of 1904 has been renewed in favour of the 
German agrarians. 

At a luncheon party the other day I sat next to Dr. 
Solf, who gave me much interesting information. He 
said that half an hour before the Kanzler's speech he 
had gone to see him and had clearly and concisely begged 
him to declare the disannexation of Belgium without any 
conditions whatever. Hertling promised to do so, but 
when the moment came he hmited his statement to "we 
will withdraw from Belgium under the condition that we 
receive compensation," etc., etc. He confided to me 
that at the last moment the military authorities had 
insisted on his adding this limitation. 



BERLIN, MARCH 1918 201 

Solf further told me that Bethmann-Hollweg's political 
outlook was broader than Hertling's, but that he had 
not the courage of his convictions. For instance, last 
year, during the American crisis, the Emperor, Bethmann- 
Hollweg, Helfferich, and himself had been dead against 
the wholesale submarine warfare. They foresaw that 
it would eventually mean Germany's ruin. Solf's own 
words to Bethmann-HoUweg had been, " You disapprove 
of the increased submarines ; Helfferich and I do so too ; 
let us all go to the Kaiser and beg him to stand by us 
in this or we will all three resign." Bethmann had agreed 
that he was right, but had not dared to take such a step 
himself. 

The " Lichnowsky Revelations " are in every one's 
mouth. He is being condemned by most people, and 
even such partisans as recognize the truth of his state- 
ments agree in condemning him for disclosing State 
secrets in his own personal interest. It is believed that 
he will probably be tried for high treason, and that he 
will be impeached by the Herrenhaus and probably 
turned out of his regiment. 

Of course, every one's question is how the document 
got out. Lichnowsky himself will be more surprised 
than any one at the publicity of a manuscript which he 
had only written for his family archives. It is said that 
he sent it to several private friends, amongst others to 
a certain Herr Wittenberg, a director of the National 
Bank, and brother-in-law to Harden, to quote from in a 
lecture he was going to give. Wittenberg seems to have 
indiscreetly shown it to an officer working on the General 
Staff, who was at the same time an extreme religious 
pacifist, and who was so horrified by the information 
revealed, showing the deception of Bethmann-Hollweg's 
Government, that he thought it an act of duty to hand 
it over to the Press. As this man has been stajdng in 
Switzerland people are suggesting that he has been caught 
in Northcliffe's nets, and that this is one of that minister's 



202 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

first steps for promoting the truth in the enemy's country. 
If it is, he has certainly been very successful. 

As a matter of fact, these so-caUed " revelations " 
are exactly the facts that Lichnowsky told us on our 
journey out from England at the outbreak of the war. 
He also showed the pamphlet to my husband and Prince 
Miinster in 1916, and although it has been corrected 
and added to, it is by no means all news to us, and for 
me certainly is not the meaningless raving of a madman, 
as many people here would have us think. 

Lately Princess M. and I have received letters from 
our cousins who have just been freed from their long 
imprisonment in Germany and sent back to England. 
These letters confirm my belief that there is still a great 
deal of unnecessary bullying and ill-treatment of im- 
prisoned British ofiicers going on, and that too much 
personal authority is accorded to the officer in command 
of the camp. Whilst one commander is tyrannical and 
incompetent in his methods, and buUies his unhappy 
prisoners by issuing all manner of petty irritating regu- 
lations and limitations to their manner of living, others 
can show tact and sympathy with the unenviable lot of 
the men placed under his command for the time being. 
One man only sees a chance for humiliating and humbling 
men whom he hates simply for being the enemy, whilst 
the others use the occasion for doing unto others as they 
would be done by in the same case. But one realizes 
how unconscious some of these bullies are at the contempt 
they have aroused, as we are told that during the few 
weeks previous to the order for exchange being issued 
they tried all the means in their power to be friendly 
and considerate towards those whom they had so grossly 
misused. 

On receipt of the above-mentioned letters we both set 
our usual wheels in motion. Princess Miinster has written 
on the subject to Prince Max of Baden, whilst I went 
straight to General Friederich and asked him to investi- 



BERLIN, MARCH 1918 203 

gate the matter. Prince Max was very sympathetic ; but 
with regard to others, if the matter was not so serious one 
would feel inclined to smile at their naive surprise on 
reading the letters, and their remarks that such things 
cannot be going on in a German camp. Last, but not 
least, I then made my way to the Dutch Legation and 
saw one of the staff who represents the interests of the 
British prisoners of war. In society we are great friends 
with them all, but on occasions of this sort they are apt 
to assume the defensive, and imply that I am criticizing 
their management. But by now I am hardened against 
snubs of this kind, and peg away at my complaints until 
I manage to extract a reluctant promise to send some 
one down to inspect and report on the particular camp in 
question. Of course, I rarely hear the result of the inspec- 
tion ; that would be too considerate an act to expect at 
such times ; and I am only greeted the next time we meet 
by a look that means, " Do leave off interfering." 

This treatment of the English in certain camps makes 
my blood bum, and I feel especially galled when I talk 
to men like Captain Ranch, who has just returned from 
a three years' imprisonment in England, where, as he 
tells me, he met with much kindness. He related how 
he was allowed to see friends for an hour whenever he 
liked, in the presence of an English officer, and that 
when they were first captured General French came and 
addressed him and his men personally, telling them 
they were a gallant foe and had defended themselves 
bravely to the last. 

Berlin, March 1918. — Do you remember the words of 
Byron's stanza describing the ball on the eve of the 
battle of Waterloo ? 

There was a sound of revelry by night, 

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men ; 

And all went merry as a marriage-bell ; 

But hush ! hark ! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell ! 



204 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

They well describe the atmosphere of our first great 
reception in Berlin last night. 

The scene was as brilHant as one could wish for, and 
gained in historical depth and meaning by the tragedies 
underlying the surface. Although there were 150 people 
present (of various nationahties), our large rooms were 
by no means overcrowded and looked charming. There 
was a wonderful display of jewels, and the ropes of pearls 
and brilliant diadems seemed to gleam with double lustre 
over the forced simplicity of the dresses, which certainly 
bear the sign of the times, thin flimsy muslins and silks 
being almost the only stuffs to be had. Of course, there 
were some magnificent robes, but they were evidently 
reminiscences of other times. 

We began the evening with a dinner-party of twelve, 
our guests being the Duke and Duchess of Schleswig- 
Holstein, the Rizofis, Count and Countess Oppersdorff 
and Count and Countess Larisch, Countess Gotzen and 
Count George Wedel. 

As it is not etiquette to talk politics on such occasions, 
we mutually avoided touching on the subjects most occu- 
pying our minds, and the Duke, who took me in to dinner 
as his hostess, talked English the whole evening, discussing 
English friends, shooting in Scotland, the Kiel-week, in 
fact everything but the war. My husband in the meantime 
talked Austria to the Duchess, and Bulgaria and Montenegro 
to Madame Rizoff, until the other guests began to arrive. 

By the Duke's permission we were allowed to have 
English and French songs sung, which were a great suc- 
cess, but the chief musical attraction of the evening was 
a Dutch singer from the Royal Opera, Herr van de 
Sanden. He is a new comet in the world of music here, 
only having been discovered in Holland a short time ago, 
and so he was a revelation to us all. His rich full baritone, 
of immense volume and strength, enchanted every one. 
Baroness Sternburg was also persuaded to sing for us, 
and won enthusiastic applause. It is the first time she 
has sung before such a large gathering. 



BERLIN, MARCH 1918 205 

As for the food question, which is generally a vexed 
one, the supper-table certainly looked very opulent with 
its dainty dishes and masses of blood-red tulips ; but 
everything was raised on our own estate, and the geese, 
ducks, pheasants, ham, fowls, salads, etc., could all be 
offered with a good conscience, and there was nothing 
" forbidden " on the menu. The Spanish Ambassador 
whispered in my ear that he only regretted one particular 
guest not being present at the scene. On my asking 
whom he meant, he rephed : " Lloyd George ; for if he 
could see that supper-table he would know how non- 
sensical it is to talk of Germany being starved out." 

The great man of the evening, as far as rank goes, was 
the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. He is brother to the 
Empress, and I suppose still holds a secret grudge against 
the Prussians for having annexed his land ; but cela va 
sans dire, he is very loyal now. 

Of the women. Countess Oppersdorff looked hand- 
somely striking in her tall fair decorative style. There 
is " race " written in every hne of her, and she looks 
what she is in reality, the descendant of an ancient 
line of kings. Her forefathers had the somewhat dubious 
pleasure of reigning over the Poles in the good old days, 
when they were continually quarreUing as to who was 
the reigning monarch, and she holds the Prussian Court a 
little cheaply, maintaining that the Hohenzollems are 
parvenus, and their ancestors nothing better than knights- 
errant when hers were reigning over a nation of great 
culture and learning. 

Madame Rizoff, who is one of the undisputed beauties 
of this winter, hovered Hke a butterfly over a flower- 
garden, graceful, vivacious, and amiable. Her husband, 
the minister, looks what he probably is in his own countryi 
a good-natured bourgeois with a sUght French polish. 
But his young wife is surrounded by quite a nimbus of 
romance. She is said to be closely related by blood to 
King Nikita, and has all the charm of a nymph who has 
lost her way in this prosaic old world of ours. She is 



2o6 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

certainly good to look at, this dainty daughter of the 
gods, with the wonderful sweep of neck and shoulders ; 
and the play of her delicate muscles when she moves her 
head is a thing for a sculptor to dream of, whilst her big 
dark, astonished-looking ej^es, and black hair bound by a 
simple blue ribbon, suggest to you a pretty Bo-peep who 
is looking for her sheep in the wrong place. 

The Dutch Ambassador and his wife were the centre 
of all eyes, for every one was trying to make out from 
their manner what the answer to the Dutch ultimatum 
was going to be. Of course, we did not touch on pohtics 
last night, but they had laughed at my anxiety the day 
before when, making out the programme for our Dutch 
singer, I had jokingly remarked that I hoped the answer 
to the ultimatum would at least be postponed until the 
following evening, as it would be so inconvenient if my 
Dutch friends all left before the soiree. 

The Spanish Ambassador and his wife were there too, 
both of them vaguely wondering how many more Spanish 
ships Germany was going to sink by mistake, before they, 
too, " must fold up their tents Hke the Arabs and noise- 
lessly steal away," 

Looking hke a vizir from the court of Haroun al 
Raschid masquerading in European clothes, the Turkish 
Ambassador wandered about from room to room, care- 
fully steering his formidable double chin and the rest of 
his embonpoint through the gay throng. He is said to be 
very mse, and as somebody said of him, he looks as if he 
kept all his wisdom packed up in his inside. 

The Bavarian Mnister and diplomats were all present, 
in fact the rooms were thronged with ministers, high 
officials, and mihtar^^ potentates, with their wives. Some 
members of the " haute finance " were present also, the 
ladies rather overdoing it in the way of jewels ; one of 
them almost looked as if she were wearing a diamond 
cuirass. 

At the last moment several people had been forced to 
telephone their apologies o^ving to the military situation. 



BERLIN, MARCH 1918 207 

and I think there cannot have been any one who was 
not conscious of the importance of the hour. At any 
moment the long-expected offensive may take place, and 
it almost seems as if some great decision were imminent, 
to judge by the number of officers who have suddenly 
had to hurry off to their regiments at a moment's notice. 
And yet there we were, all apparently gay and careless, 
chattering away to one another as if we had not a single 
fear beyond how our guests were to get home again. 

The evening passed very quickly, and although the 
music went on till after midnight, most of our guests 
began to disperse at about 11.30, for the electric trams 
and underground wait for no man, and droshkies and 
motors are very few and far between, and the dangers of 
a solitary midnight walk in Berlin are not to be under- 
rated in these days of universal theft and robbery. 

As for myself, I still feel in the B5Tonic mood, and 
wonder how many of the men who were my guests last 
evening I shall ever see again. There are reports circu- 
lating of the great offensive beginning already. Here is 
the last verse of Byron's canto, which might have been 
a prophecy of to-day : 

Last noon beheld them full of lusty hfe. 

Last eve in Beauty's circle proudly gay, 

The midnight brought the signal-sound of strife. 

The mom the marshalling in arms, — the day 

Battle's magnificently fierce array ! 

The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent 

The earth is cover'd thick with other clay. 

Which her own clay shall cover, heap'd and pent. 

Rider and horse, — friend, foe, — in one red burial blent ! 

Berlin, March 1918. — The great offensive has begun, 
and the newspaper headings all speak of a great German 
victory. The whole town is being flagged and the bells 
are ringing. Standing at my owti window, gazing sorrow- 
fully out at the Tiergarten, which is already showing a 
thin veil of green in the brilliant March sunshine, I 
can hear some of the remarks made by passers-by, and. 



2o8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

shall I confess it, for the first time since the outbreak 
of the war I am beginning to doubt, and wonder if 
it is in any degree possible that the Germans can reach 
Calais ! 

My soul grows sick when I read or hear the particulars 
of these first victorious days ; of the new long guns that 
are being used for the first time, and that are now bom- 
barding Paris from the incredible distance of 150 kilo- 
metres ; of the awful effect of the devilish new gases, 
of whole batteries of Englishmen found dead over their 
guns, of the 25,000 prisoners captured and 400 guns 
taken, together with great stores of food and ammunition. 

We hear that the English say they were taken by 
surprise, and that the prisoners blame their generals and 
complain of Haig being in England just at the critical 
moment. 

It is a beautiful morning, one of those spring days 
when the world seems to have grown young and strong 
and full of hope in the night. Ever3d;hing is brisk 
and vigorous and full of movement as if hurrying on to 
some new era of history. The flags are flying from the 
house-tops, the branches of the trees are waving in the 
wind, and the high white clouds hurrying by, as if carry- 
ing the news of the great battles to other lands. The 
day looks as if it were rejoicing, but Nature is always 
callous to human suffering, and who can think of rejoic- 
ing, whether friend or foe, when such horrible suffering 
is being inflicted on mankind ? 

Our house stands in a very central position, being in 
the main thoroughfare connecting the two big stations, 
the Friedrich Strasse and the Potsdamer Bahnhof ; and 
there is always a great deal of traffic passing our windows. 
This morning I feel fascinated by the seemingly cheery 
life going on out there, and stand rooted to the window, 
trying to escape my own sad thoughts. There are the 
freshly equipped troops marching away staidly and 
soberly enough, with the small pathetic following of 
white-faced women trjdng to keep pace with their swift 



BERLIN, MARCH 1918 209 

march. How many of them will ever see the Branden- 
burger Tor and the victorious figures on it again ? 

There is the newspaper-man shouting out the news in 
a voice that almost makes one beUeve that the Germans 
have crossed the Channel. There is the flower-girl 
offering her small first bunches of violets and snowdrops 
to women who have no thoughts of flowers, but hurry 
by with anxious pale faces all in one direction, and I 
know where, to the Kriegsministerium in the Dorotheen 
Strasse, where the fresh fists of casualties appear daily. 

Carts fiUed with enormous bottles, each six in its big 
basket-packing, rattle by. I hate the sight of them, I 
know them too well ; they are filled with those abomin- 
able gas-stuffs which are made in Moabit, and are now 
being dispatched to destroy more victims. There, too, 
a whole waggon-load of empty stretchers passes by, 
new and unstained as yet. How long before they will 
each be filled with some poor bleeding remnant of 
humanity ? 

There comes a troop of men in various uniforms, and 
bearing no weapons. They are English and French 
prisoners, and I feel glad inwardly, for I know that at 
least these mothers' sons have escaped from the further 
horrors of the war. 

I feel a great wave of bitterness and hatred over- 
flowing my heart, hatred for all those in this and in other 
countries who were the cause of this hell-being-let-loose 
on the earth, and I turn away from the window with an 
indignant sob in my throat as I hear the sound of church 
bells imperatively summoning the nation to rejoice, but 
the sound of approaching music forces me back to the 
window, just in time to see the returned crew of the 
cruiser Wolf passing by in gala procession, accompanied 
by a scanty but admiring escort of men and boys. At 
the sight of these my thoughts veer round to the naval 
side of the situation, and I wonder vaguely if the report 
that I heard yesterday is true, that England is going to 
make a naval attack on the sea-coast. 

p 



2IO AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

My husband enters the room full of the latest news 
just received straight from the General Staff. They 
have informed him that a success is certain, but that it 
seems to be of a local nature, and not so great as the 
papers make it out to be, and by no means important 
enough to make those in authority confident of a great 
ultimate victory. It seems to be true that the guns 
are really bombarding Paris from a distance of 120 
kilometres, and that the Opera-house is partially de- 
stroyed, but this does not mean anything of a decisive 
natm-e. 

A member of the General Staff here has also told him 
that his office in BerUn is in direct telephone connection 
with the General Staff at the front, and that he can hear 
the sound of the shooting going on through his telephone, 
and can also telephone personally to an aeronaut who is 
at that moment suspended high up in the air over the 
enemy's lines. 

Names of the fallen keep coming in at every moment, 
and Princess Reuss has just had a telegram to say that 
her second and much beloved son has fallen in the 
victory. 

Berlin, April 9, 1918. — ^The terrible offensive is still 
raging, and although the quick onpush of the Germans 
in those first harrowing days has been checked, we still 
hear of the steady if slow advance of the German troops. 

All these two weeks I went nowhere and would see 
no one. I could only sit at home wondering which 
member of my family would fall first, and when I should 
receive news of it. The anguish and suspense of waiting, 
knowing nothing of what is happening to one's nearest 
and dearest, is terrible. 

I have newspapers containing the casualty lists up to 
March 30, and until now I have seen no names I know ; 
so I must take hope and pick up the threads of every- 
day life again and quietly visit my friends once more. 
Through news gleaned from them and from my husband, 



BERLIN, APRIL 1918 211 

who is continually meeting military men, I learn that the 
offensive has not been successful enough to justify the 
confidence proclaimed in all the newspapers. Every- 
thing had been staked on their breaking through the 
enemy's lines, and they have not done so, although they 
have driven the enemy back. Indeed, I hear the German 
troops are even being scattered and separated, owing to 
the French offensive at Verdun and the renewed trouble 
in Italy, where the Czechs have gone over wholesale to 
the enemy, forcing Germany to send eight army corps 
from the West Front to the ItaKan to replace them. 

The so-called victories have been painted in glowing 
colours, for " dressing up " the war loan. Morally, too, 
the offensive has not made the wished-for impression 
on the enemy, but if anything has put new courage into 
them. The pacifists in England and France are fewer 
and have retired into the background. 

We hear universally that the pluck shown by the 
English was almost superhuman when they were taken 
by surprise, and when through the failure of the Portu- 
guese they were left to face such great odds alone. Even 
Ludendorff, hard stern man that he is, confessed that 
he would take off his hat to the EngUsh for their 
absolutely undaunted bravery. He said they never lose 
their heads, and never appear desperate ; they are always 
cool and courageous until the very moment of death and 
capture. I will put it exactly as I heard it straight from 
the Grosse Hauptquartier : " The English Generals are 
wanting in strategy. We should have no chance if they 
possessed as much science as their officers and men had 
of courage and bravery. They are lions led by donkeys." 

I wonder how much of this criticism is true. It is, 
of course, difficult for me to judge, but it is nevertheless 
interesting to hear, coming from such a quarter. 

Yesterday I went to the first really smart wedding 
which I have seen since the beginning of the war ; all 
the others being " Kriegstrauung." It was the Henckel- 



212 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Schaffgotsch wedding and was very beautitul. The union 
was such a happy one that the parents had determined 
to make it a scene of rejoicing for once ; and the young 
couple certainly deserved it, for the bndegroom has been 
continually in action for three and a half years, and the 
bride's father has seived in the ammunition columns 
since the beginning. 

The ten bridesmaids at the wedding were all decked 
out in dresses of pink chiffon and carried bouquets of 
spring flowers, and each was attended (as is the custom 
here) by a young officer m uniform ; and only that 
morning each of these youths had received notice that 
he was to hurry back to the front to-morrow, 

I felt a httle relieved the other day when a lady in 
an important official position came up to me and gave 
me some secret information. " I may be committing a 
patriotic crime," she said, " but I feel so much with you 
in your anxiety about your relations ' over there,' that 
I mean to risk it. The reverses and losses last week 
were not so much amongst the English as amongst the 
French and Americans. The Germans wish the people 
to believe the contrary, but the real fact is that although 
some English regiments were obliged to retreat, they are 
not the ones who made the mistakes or who have suffered 
most." 

Last night Prince Max Taxis dined with us ; he had 
arrived only a few hours before from St, Quentin. He 
was greatly affected by the remembrance of it. Last 
year, he said> it had been a flourishing town, and now it 
was a deserted ruin, most of the houses being absolutely 
razed to the ground and nothing to be seen in it but 
streams of prisoners passing through. 

I heard to-day from Princess Miinster, who sent an 
extract from a letter from her husband. She writes : 
" He says he is back in Alsace now with the Xth army 
corps. He has had a most interesting time for the last 



BERLIN, APRIL 1918 213 

ten days. He dined with the Crown Prince at his head- 
quarters, and spent half a day with him, besides being 
shown round everywhere. He says : ' Your heart would 
have warmed with pride at the way he speaks of the 
Enghsh prisoners (officers and soldiers), and he never 
misses an opportunity of visiting the English wounded, 
giving them cigarettes and cheering them up.' " 

The Lichnowsky affair continues to excite the greatest 
interest. 

Herr von Jagow has been dining and lunching with 
us often lately, and has explained his (Lichnowsky's) 
position very clearly to my husband, who has in fact 
been helping him to write his " Explanation " which 
appeared in the German papers last week and is being 
reproduced in the Enghsh papers this week. 

Yesterday the case was brought before the Herren- 
haus. It will be tried by his peers, and they will decide 
his fate. As G. tells me, the scene was most impressive. 
The House had been packed the whole morning for the 
Pohsh debates, but when this great " case " came on, 
the House was cleared and the whole affair thrashed out 
in camera. As most of the nobihty present were either 
his friends or relations, it was a painful moment for them 
all. It seems the question to be decided is whether he 
will lose his seat in the Herrenhaus and be expelled from 
his regiment, etc., etc. He will be allowed to appeal, 
so the case may last another six months. 

Although Lichnowsky has been trying to show the 
world a bold face up to now, and might have been seen 
walking in the Tiergarten in front of our windows every 
morning lately, he left Berhn the day before the opening 
of the Herrenhaus, and is now at his Silesian seat. I 
hear that he is very depressed and surprised at the turn 
affairs have taken. 

The other great topic of conversation in the salons 
of Berlin is the " peace movement " going on under 



214 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

the surface between France and Austria, for all the 
" dementis " in the world cannot alter the fact that the 
royal pair in Austria have been trying to negotiate 
quietly with France. It has, of course, been absolutely 
denied officially, as such a move would be considered 
" disloyalty to their ally." 

The story runs here that it was not the Austrian 
Emperor but his young wife who wrote to Clemenceau, 
suggesting an opening of peace negotiations, and that it 
was quite unofficial and, so to say, without the Emperor's 
cognizance ; but it is really just the sort of impulsive 
thing that a young impatient couple would do, so that I 
admire the effort even if it has failed to succeed. 

I have been told another little interesting episode 
to-day, coming in fact from some of the Austrian relations 
themselves. The Austrian Empress has two younger 
brothers (Dukes of Parma) on the other side, as so many 
of us have. They are attached to the Belgian Red 
Cross, and, filled with an intense longing to see them, 
besides being probably moved by pohtical reasons as 
well, she planned a Httle scheme for this purpose which 
came off most successfully and is still absolutely unknown 
to any one outside her own family. The two Princes 
actually visited her in Austria. They entered a train 
in Belgium in the uniform of Belgian officers, and left it 
in Vienna in the costume of Austrian sportsmen, and 
were quite unrecognized. They spent some three days 
in one of the royal shooting residences, and were again 
smuggled back to Belgium in the same manner, where 
they have rejoined the Belgian army. 

Running through the more important subjects of the 
day there is always a red thread of gossip and criticism 
on the poor old Reichskanzler and Herr von Kiihlmann. 
The " Vaterlandspartei " are always at work, and do 
not shrink from any methods to unhorse the latter. 
Now they are trying an attack on his private life. It 
is very despicable, and one cannot help agreeing with 



BERLIN, APRIL 1918 215 

Kiihlmann who, a few days ago on his return from 
Bukarest, where he had been working at the peace 
negotiations, complained bitterly of the treatment he 
was exposed to. As he said, although he had trained 
himself to have the hide of a rhinoceros and to be absol- 
utely indifferent to criticism, yet it is cutting even to 
the most hardened to return from such a difficult mission, 
where he had been doing his utmost for his country, to 
find that in the meantime he had become the victim 
of a low intrigue got up by his political antagonists to 
ruin him. He was alluding to reports which have been 
circulating here to the effect that while in Bukarest he 
had inaugurated " wild orgies " with smart Roumanian 
ladies who were trying to influence him to make a weak 
peace for Germany. 

Ridiculous as these reports may seem, they were so 
skilfully set in motion that they grew in interest from 
month to month and were beheved by nearly every one 
before the source of the calumny was exposed. The 
alleged weakness of the peace with Roumania is that she 
is to be allowed to keep her guns and weapons. Ger- 
many's ally, Bulgaria, particularly resents these terms, 
as she says the guns will inevitably one day be directed 
against her. 

Berlin, April 1918. — I suppose that I was feeling 
more than usually anxious about my family just now, 
and as I am a great behever in telepathy, the following 
is a curious instance of it. I have been undergoing a 
course of massage lately, and the lady who gives me the 
treatment, although not professing to be a clairvoyante, 
has at times an extraordinary gift of second sight. In 
the course of conversation during my treatment she 
said, " You are terribly worried about something, aren't 
you ? " " Yes," I said, " I am anxious about my 
brothers and brother-in-law, owing to this last offen- 
sive." Looking round the room and seeing their photo- 
graphs all about, she begged me not to worry, and 



2i6 AN EiNGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

taking up each photograph in turn she told me the 
following, which I noted down as she said it. Holding 
up the photo of my eldest brother, she said he was in a 
distant land and had been in a hospital there, ill but not 
wounded. " This one," and she took up the photo of 
my brother Edmund, " has a scar or sore all along one 
side of his face." 

I knew nothing about them at the time, but about ten 
days after I received a letter from my mother, saying that 
my eldest brother was in Palestine, and had been very 
ill in hospital ; and that Edmund, my second brother, 
was home on sick leave owing to an abscess on his chin 
and jaw caused by the unhealthy food and water in the 
place he had been at ! 

" These two," taking up the photos of my brother- 
in-law, Colonel Rowland Feilding, and of my brother 
Vincent, " have been for the last few days in terrible 
danger, but it is over for them at present." Then, 
singUng out the one of my brother, " He is lying at this 
moment in hospital with a broken leg. I see him fall," 
she continued, " with a wound or accident to his leg ; 
I see two soldiers coming on either side of him and pick- 
ing him up and supporting him under the shoulders ; 
they half drag and half carry him across a temporary 
bridge, made of rafters, across a canal. ^ He is now in a 
hospital, where he will remain for about six weeks and 
then will be sent home, where he will remain in hospital for 
many months. He will recover, but he will Hmp for Ufe." 

I must confess I felt partly reheved at the thought 
that he and Rowland were for the moment out of danger, 
and just waited patiently for definite news to come. 
On the evening of this same day I took up a paper and 
read the description of the fighting that had taken place 
near Givenchy from the gth to 14th April, how on the 
nth and 12th the West Lancashire Territorials had 
saved the situation, but that their losses had been so 
fearful that they had had to fall back on the " engineers 

^ These details were proved later to have been correct. 



BERLIN, APRIL 1918 217 

of this regiment " as infantry reserves (Vincent's regi- 
ment ; and he was, in fact, an engineer). 

As I am now, thank God, in constant uncensored 
communication with my cousin at The Hague, who is 
my one link with the outer world, I hoped to gain more 
news through him, and telegraphed to ask if anything 
had happened to Vincent. On April 28 I received a 
wire from him saying : " Vincent has a broken leg, and 
is expected to be well enough to be moved to London 
from France in six weeks' time." The prophetic words 
being thus so exactly verified almost terrified me in the 
contemplation of how ignorant we are of the hidden 
forces of Nature. Yet how grateful I was for this good 
news, and I think no one ever before rejoiced more at a 
broken leg than I did over my brother Vincent's. 

At the same time it seems as if our family is not to 
be spared suffering in any generation, for on April 22 I 
received a Times of the nth, and in the list of casualties 
saw the name of my nephew Osmund, the only son of 
my eldest brother. 

Berlin, April 1918. — Friends to luncheon and 
friends to tea ; with somehow or other a feehng that 
perhaps these will be the last meetings of our little 
" auslanderische " coterie. At luncheon we were only a 
small party of four — our two selves, Herr von Jagow, 
who was pessimistic, and Princess Isenburg, who is always 
cheerful and in good spirits. She, as I omitted to mention 
before, is the American wife of Prince Karl von Isenburg- 
Birstein. She and her husband having generally spent 
a part of the year in Paris before the war, their position 
was a difficult one. 

Princess Isenburg worked in the American Hospital 
at Munich until it was closed on America coming in. She 
then Uved quietly at her country place, where she had a 
convalescent home for soldiers, and worked very hard 
for the French and English prisoners of war. Her work 
was much criticized, and she was twice denounced and 



2i8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

had to pay a fine of 50 Mk. for her too zealous interest 
in the enemy. Princess I. always answers laughingly 
when asked her opinion of the warring countries : "I 
have to love them all, because I was born in America, 
educated and lived most of my hfe in France, am married 
to a German, and have two charming English brothers- 
in-law ! " Her husband was less diplomatic in speaking 
his opinions ; and was consequently considered too inter- 
national and cosmopohtan in his ideas to suit the taste 
of the German Staff. He went out as a voluntary 
automobilist, not having been in the army. 

The Prince is often taken for one or other of his two 
political brothers. The younger one. Prince Victor von 
Isenburg, worked for a couple of war years in the Foreign 
Office under Herr von Jagow. His elder, and politically 
better-known brother, is Prince Joseph von Isenburg, 
who was Military Governor of Lithuania. He has been 
much criticized, and succeeded in making many enemies 
in that country and in Poland. During luncheon this 
subject was discussed, and Bertha I. defended her 
brother-in-law, saying that as an officer he had had to 
fulfil the orders given him by his superiors. General von 
Ludendorff and General von Eichom. He had 800 
officers under him, and could not be held responsible for 
the foolish way some of those under him carried these 
orders out. There was continual strife among the 
Lithuanians and Poles, hardly a Sunday passing without 
fights and even bloodshed in the churches. This was 
because the sermon was either in Polish or Lithuanian, and 
the people whose language was not used protested violently. 

In the afternoon I had as large a tea-party as I could 
collect from the remnants of our now disbanded set, 
most of them, in fact all but myself, the American wives 
of German husbands, and all, needless to say, somewhat 
anxious and worried as to the fate of their fortunes in 
America. Countess Matuschka, being one of the weU- 
known heiresses, had no very hopeful news to give, and 
Princess Miguel of Braganza was much in the same position ; 



BERLIN, APRIL 1918 219 

but as her husband is in the succession for the Portuguese 
throne, we laughingly told her that when everything 
else fails, she can persuade him to start a royalist revolu- 
tion on their own in that country. 

Baroness Stumm (the beautiful Constance) also came 
in for a moment, on her way to The Hague, where her 
husband has been a member of the Legation for some 
years. " Why live in misery here when there is so much 
peace and luxury to be had elsewhere " is the impression 
she gave us of life in a neutral country. Countess 
Gotzen was the last of our guests to come. She is the 
widow of the late Governor of East Africa and late 
Ambassador in Washington, and a f eehng of mixed anxiety 
and sadness came over me as I bade her farewell ; sadness, 
as she was leaving Berhn for good and all shortly, and 
anxiety, because our present apartment here is partly 
furnished with some of her beautiful furniture, and in 
these times of threatened plunder and Bolshevism one 
does not like the responsibiUty of other people's valuables. 
However, she was more optimistic as regards the harmless- 
ness of plunderers than I was. Another American present 

was Baroness N , who was depressed by the recent 

discovery that she was under police supervision. We 
soon reassured her by telling her that there was nothing 
exceptional in that, and that we had each had our turn ; 
we then proceeded to compare notes on our different 
experiences, and on the elephantine finesse which German 
detectives display in what they consider the acme of 
secret intelHgence work. 

I remember one day, at luncheon at the " Esplanade," 
noticing two middle-class men very badly dressed in 
obviously reach-me-down clothes, who sat at the next 
table and kept their eyes fixed on me without cessation, 
with the offensive stare of the Berlin official which is so 
well known to those who have suffered from it. And 
on inquiring afterwards I learnt that they were two 
policemen in plain clothes, sent there to watch whether 
I displayed excessive anti-German views during the said 



220 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

meal. Their habit is on such occasions to send their 
card in beforehand to the restaurant manager, with 
the words " Kriminal Detectiv So-and-so " printed on it 
in large letters, stating the time of arrival, and what 
particular form their Sherlock Holmes-hke work would 
probably take. By this means every one is thoroughly 
well forewarned and forearmed, which, from our point 
of view, certainly has its advantages. 

Berlin, May 3, 1918. — This afternoon, among my 
many farewell calls before leaving for the country, I 
went to say good-bye to Countess Brockdorff, the dear 
old Hofdame of the Empress. She is in fact a typical 
one, and, as they say, manages the Empress in quite the 
historic manner of the Hofdamen of former times, not 
fearing to tell Her Majesty home-truths, and not per- 
mitting her to be too ultra-Prussian, or anti-Cathohc 
and narrow-minded in her ideas, as she is incUned to be 
more and more each day. 

The Countess is very broad-minded, and was most 
sympathetic about my anxiety concerning my brothers, 
etc. She had just returned from the memorial service 
for Herr von Richthofen, the gallant flyer, and mentioned 
how sad it was to see the grief of the poor parents. All 
Berlin had assembled to do honour to the dead hero, 
but this seemed little compensation to his mother for 
the loss of her son. 

On my way home with Madame Polo, we passed the 
Russian Embassy, and for the first time I saw the red 
flag of revolution waving over it. It must be a very 
unpleasant sight for the Emperor when he passes down 
Unter den Linden, and altogether people are inclined to 
mistrust these freshly made Russian diplomats, who do 
not manage to inspire us with that feehng of security 
which one hopes for when a " peace " has been proclaimed 
and signed after a great war like this. 

There are said to be some forty members of the Em- 
bassy all told, most of them being common soldiers or 



BERLIN, MAY 1918 221 

sailors, the only educated gentleman among them being 
a Socialist doctor. They refuse to associate with any 
one in Berlin but the most blatant SociaUsts, and one 
hears strange stories of their manners at meals and their 
habits in private life, which are more or less those that 
one would expect from the lowest class of Russian peasants. 
Privately I am incUned to believe that they are a great 
danger to Germany, and that they have come for any other 
reason than peaceful ones. 

The whole of the Russian prisoner affairs have been 
handed over to them by the Spaniards, and time will 
show, but I beheve that they are arranging a general 
rising among the prisoners, instead of organizing peaceful 
work on peaceful terms. I may, of course, be mistaken, 
but I should be by no means surprised to wake up one 
morning and find that the signal has been given for a 
Russian revolution in Germany, and that we are in the 
midst of a great mutiny. It is an interesting question 
how many Germans of the lower classes would join them, 
for even I have noticed a growing intimacy and friendship 
amongst those who have come under my observation 
lately, not to mention the rumours one hears of German 
soldiers rebelling in Russia and compelling their captive 
officers to assume the same rank as themselves. All 
this tends to make one believe that there is a systematic 
undercurrent of action going on. I fervently wish, 
however, that we poor " Auslander " could get away to 
some neutral country before this interesting development 
takes place. I hear so many strange things said that I 
often wonder how much more is being kept back from us, 
and how soon it will be too late to do anything but resign 
oneself to an irresistible course of events. 

On passing out of the dining-room at a dinner- 
party the other day, I heard one member of the Foreign 
Office whisper to another, " Well, England seems to 
have ' caught on.' " " Yes," said the other, " things 
look pretty bad." Again, at a luncheon-party a few 



222 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

days later I heard some one saiy : " It is shocking how 
pro-Entente the young Austrian Empress is, and what 
an influence she has over her husband." " Yes," was 
the reply, " all those who have brothers fighting on the 
other side are ' pro ' that side ; it is in their blood, it 
has always been so in all history, and one will never be 
able to eradicate it. The Empress's idea, of course, is 
to get one of her brothers made King of France." We 
can see through such remarks how the feeling is veering 
round, and how the tension between Austria and Germany 
is increasing every day. 

I was amused at a Uttle story I was told about the 
Austrian Emperor the other day. He and the Empress 
are longing for peace almost at any price, not only for 
reasons of humanity, but because they are both perfectly 
aware that Austria cannot hold out much longer, and being 
young and sanguine, they employ every means privately 
and pubhcly to bring about an end to the bloody strife ; 
besides which, just because of their youth and inexperi- 
ence, they are both secretly rather afraid of their ministers, 
and one day when the young Emperor was having a 
private interview with a well-known pacifist leader from 
Switzerland, Czernin was suddenly announced. The 
Emperor hereupon, feeling hke a naughty boy, had to 
hide the great pacifist in his dressing-room, whilst he 
interviewed the warhke Czernin. 

They are, of course, rather hke grown-up children, 
trying to save the world ; but one must admit their 
good intentions, and admire and love them all the better 
for their so-called " faults," which spring from such a 
different source from all the cold-blooded, ruthless, and 
cruel methods which are lauded up to the skies over here. 

When trying to impress on one the perfidiousness and 
treachery of the young Empress, people always say she 
is just as pro-Itahan as she is pro-French in her feehngs ; 
and a turning up of the eyes and a tightening of the hps 
are meant to emphasize the wickedness of the young 
Queen's heart at thus following the call of flesh and blood. 



KRIEBLOWITZ, MAY 1918 223 

I was told by some Germans the other day that the 
Austrian Generals had at last persuaded the Emperor 
one day to agree to the use of all the most drastic methods 
of warfare in order to attain their end on the ItaUan front, 
but when the young Empress came to him with tears 
in her eyes, and begged him not to allow beautiful Venice 
to be bombarded, he at once gave in and countermanded 
his orders, much to the rage of some of the most virulent 
of the Generals. 

Krieblowitz, May 1918. — Gebhard's two nephews 
have just written home. They say that no words can 
describe the horrors of what they have been through. 
They write that they are almost d5dng of starvation. 
They say they advanced so rapidly that no provisions 
could reach them, and their division was five days 
and nights fighting incessantly without food or even 
sleep at all, and those of their companies who were not 
killed or wounded died of exhaustion, and it is only by 
a miracle that they themselves are left to tell the tale. 
Their letter ends with the significant words : " Send us 
some food somehow, as quickly as you can, or we also 
shall die." 

Here in Krieblowitz, the peasants and village people 
receive the news that sometimes one sometimes even 
two of their sons have been killed on the same day. It 
has been a wholesale slaughter of late. 

My maid's husband writes : " It is indescribably 
awful here in Laon. We five in the midst of an incessant 
hail of buUets. The men on each side of me were both 
killed yesterday, and I expect my turn to come any day. 
The French are shelling the town from airplanes night 
and day, as they know that the big gun which is bom- 
barding Paris is near here, and they are trying to destroy 
that. We had been boarding and sleeping since we have 
been here in a large almshouse, where eighty old French 
women, all over seventy years of age, Hved, and we 
soldiers had all grown fond of these old ladies. When 



224 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

we came back as usual last evening, we found the place 
in ruins, and all the old women buried beneath the 
debris — French flyers had done it ! " 

From Trier the nuns write that so much damage has 
been done to their convent that now they live entirely in 
the cellar, and they have their chapel and have daily 
mass there. 

Yesterday a man lunched with us who had been dining 
the previous week with Captain Miiller of the Emden, 
who had recently returned from his imprisonment in 
England. Miiller confided to him how much annoyed he 
was at the accounts of his bad treatment in England, 
printed in the German newspapers. He said they were 
absolutely untrue, and that he had been treated as a 
gentleman and sportsman throughout, and had made 
many friends there. 

Instancing the single case of impoliteness he had met 
with, he had (in joke) related a remark made to him by 
a common sailor when coming over, and this had been 
doctored up into " ill-treatment of prisoners in England " 
by Boy-Ed, who used it as a means for working up the 
dying feeling of antagonism here. Miiller said he was so 
angry that he was going to insist on a contradiction being 
published. " What will they think of us in England if 
he twists the truth, even in a matter like this ? " were 
his words. 

I notice a great change in the people here from what 
they were last year. They are all " tired of suffering," 
as they express it. " We want our sons and husbands 
back, and we want food," is all they say. And the priests 
and clergymen too say how difficult it is to hold them in 
now. Any moment they fear them breaking all control. 
A man whose business it is, as he puts it, to go round 
begging for the new war loan, told us that it is very 
difficult now to persuade people to subscribe, not that 
they have not got the monej^ for they have more than 



KRIEBLOWITZ, MAY 1918 225 

they know what to do with ; but " patriotism " is dead, 
it does not " catch on " any longer, and he can only get 
them to subscribe by exerting real pressure, and telling 
them that if they do not do so they will lose everything 
they have already invested. 

" What will they say," I asked, " when they reahze 
that all these big ' Kriegsanleihe ' figures are in reality 
bogus, and are only the same numbers re-entered ? " 
" Please God they never may realize it ! " was his answer. 

Food is growing scarcer from day to day, and we have 
been reduced to killing and eating our kangaroos. They 
have been kept here as a great curiosity and rarity for 
years past. Yesterday my husband received a letter 
from one of the provision-dealers in Breslau, saying he 
would give any price my husband Uked to mention if he 
would sell him a kangaroo. 

It is very difficult to turn my thoughts away from my 
own personal anxieties to things of more universal in- 
terest. We are expecting a bloody Whitsuntide, when 
the German troops will have recovered from the exhaus- 
tion following on the forced marches of the past offensive. 
The silence at present is ominous. 

The Austrian Emperor, Kaiser Karl, is visiting the 
German Emperor at Great Headquarters. It is meant 
to patch up the inner conflicts which are growing more 
serious every day between the two countries. The 
Austrians complain that other nationalities are only 
entitled to exist in the manner Germany sees fit to allow 
them. 

Clothes are growing so scarce that the men are being 
called upon to hand over their superfluous clothes {th6y 
are officially allowed two suits). If they do not respond 
willingly, compulsion will be brought into force, and we 
shaU soon have policemen overhauling our wardrobes to 
see what is in them. Robbery and plunder are the order 
of the day, and one is practically surrounded by thieves. 

Q 



226 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Berlin, May 1918. — Here are some impressions related 
to me by a soldier who took part in the great offensive near 
Armentieres in April igi8. — ^After describing the perfect 
organization and timing of the attack as the infantry 
worked forward, cutting through barbed wire, overcoming 
all obstacles, and with breathless haste tumbling into the 
first line of English trenches, he said, they found not a 
soul ! They had been evacuated, evidently in a hurry, 
for only the men were gone, everything else had been 
left. Stacks and stacks of food, cases of biscuits, jam, 
tobacco, corned beef, milk — all that a poor starved 
German's imagination could desire in his wildest dreams. 
Then clothes, mackintoshes, leather waistcoats, silk socks, 
books — wonderful waterproof trench boots, depots of 
leather goods, saddles, reins, bags ; real English compact 
army outfit of every land. One thing that particularly 
fascinated this soldier was a perfect little leather case 
containing twelve aluminium plates. He had not seen 
a plate since he had left the last to^vn of rest ! The case 
too looked as though a lady of fashion might go to pay 
calls with it ; a German soldier is not used to dainties. 

The second line of trenches proved as interesting as 
the first, but the third line was so well defended that the 
retreat was sounded and we hear no more, for soon after 
this soldier was wounded and helped back along the Une by 
an English ambulance-man who had been taken prisoner. 
Other English prisoners were on the road, mostly swear- 
ing at the war, at their bad luck, often enough too at 
Lloyd George and the state of affairs at home. The 
Germans thought tout comme chez nous, because " state 
of affairs at home " conjured up the state of affairs in 
Germany. But when they remembered those two lines 
of trenches and the treasures therein, they began to think 
there were different Idnds of " states of affairs at home," 
and different degrees of suffering. 

On arriving with a Lazarett-train at Essen the relief 
was great, for the journey had been long and wearisome. 
Hardly any food had there been and hard stretchers 



KRIEBLOWITZ, MAY 1918 227 

without mattresses. At one station the wounded had 
even had to change trains, and while standing in a limp 
line along the platform, an " Unterofi&zier " had come 
along and called to the men to stand at attention. For- 
tunately there was a " Vizewachtmeister " among them, 
who is a grade higher, and who gave the tactful " Unter- 
offizier " a piece of his mind. At Essen they were carted 
on stretchers to an electric train, and so taken to the 
hospital. The hospital was full to bursting, and men with 
bandaged arms and legs had to lie on straw. The men 
were all very sore about the officers, and there was no 
pretence at respect or love for them. 

One man told a story of a wounded officer who had 
said to him, " If you don't lift me gently, I'll hit you 
across the mouth." " I plunged him down then," said 
the man, " wound or no wound." 

The men who are convalescent have to wait on the 
officers, who send them running for every trifle. One 
had limped to town to do shopping. On his return dead- 
tired, he was told to go again for one toothbrush ! Still, 
the officer might have been in need of a toothbrush, 
which I can understand better than the story a common 
soldier told of having had to scrub out a cupboard with 
a toothbrush, as a punishment for a small spot of dirt 
on it ! 

Imagine what a Russian pupil told me. " Not only 
do we still have to report ourselves twice a week at the 
police station, but the people of the Russian Embassy 
have to go once a week. Think of that, and the red flag 
outside the Embassy too ! This peace is a pure farce." 

The Roumanians also have stiU to report themselves, 
though the schools have offered to take back the 
Roumanians they turned out when war with Roumania 
was declared. 

Here is another little tale of a friend of mine, a German. 
A policeman went up to her studio to make inspection 
concerning fire-escape, etc. He asked her to show her 



228 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

papers. " No," she said, " you've no right to ask for 
them. Duplicates are deposited at the police station, as 
is the case with every Prussian subject." " You've been 
abroad for a long time, missie," he said. " How do you 
know ? " she asked. " You would never have dared 
answer up to me like that if you hadn't," he said. That 
seems to me a characteristic touch. 

We have now great queues of people in the street 
waiting for their one allotment of sewing cotton — ^forty 
yards of cotton, to last four months, I have no doubt. 
Yet they say that things in the Ukraine are much worse. 
A man's suit of a normal kind costs looo roubles there, 
and stockings are not to be had. For the matter of 
that, though, all the poorer women walk about the streets 
stockingless now ; I've even seen better-class people 
adopting the healthy mode of sandals without stockings 
— " health " being a mere excuse for lack of stocking 
vouchers ! 

Berlin, May 1918. — We are gradually beginning to 
hear details of the naval raid on Ostend and Zeebrugge. 
Here the newspapers make as little fuss as possible about 
it, treating it as an episode of minor importance, so that 
the attention of the nation may not be attracted to the 
real significance of the attack, which means the restriction 
of the Flanders flotilla to Ostend, from whence they can 
be much more easily handled. I must confess the news 
of this naval success has done my heart good. So many 
of my people are in the navy, and on the whole I have 
felt secretly a little disappointed at the slight successes 
obtained until now. One expected such startling results, 
grand sweeping victories in the style of the old Nelsonian 
days ; instead of which they seem to have grown so 
exceedingly careful and cautious in their operations. 

The offensive is taking on more and more the character 
of a race between Hindenburg and America, and people 
are -beginning generally to perceive the terrific conse- 
quences of their fatal mistake in allowing America to 



BERLIN, JUNE 1918 229 

come in. Every one is forced to admit that it is America 
now that is keeping on the war. How foolishly they 
laughed at the idea two years ago ! The American 
methods sound strange to us, and, if one may believe 
the accounts one reads, they are a little blatant in 
their appeals to the sentimental side of the nation, and 
in the means employed to work up their belligerent 
qualities. What can one say to such a legend as " Come 
and hiss at the beast of Berhn," stuck over a photograph 
of the Kaiser in the of&ce of one of the leading New York 
papers ! 

Berlin, June 1918. — We have just returned from a 
visit to Munich — my first ; and after having heard so 
much of its beauty and the charm it possesses for all 
who have Uved there, I was, as is often the case, rather 
afraid of being disappointed. But it is not so, and 
I am just as much under its spell as if I had Uved 
there for years, instead of only having been there for 
some days. 

I am afraid, like most people, I am somewhat imfair 
in my comparison between it and Berhn. The latter 
seems so ostentatiously clean and parvenu, and its absolute 
lack of style verges on vulgarity. One is inchned to forget 
that it has been built up in the midst of a dull sandy 
plain by a patient hard-working people who have no 
traditions of culture and style to carry on, but are more 
or less at the beginning of their history. 

In Munich one perceives the centuries of culture of a 
beauty-loving people who have left their mark on the 
town for ever. There is dignity and a happy feehng for 
space and proportion in its wide streets and broad squares, 
combined with a romantic " Gemiitlichkeit " in the alleys 
and by-streets of the inner part of the town. And there 
one always feels in touch with Nature, untrammelled 
and unspoilt. 

The green waters of the Isar are so superbly insolent 
that no boat can breast its rushing waves ; only in the 



230 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

early spring-time flocks of white-winged sea-gulls float 
on its foam-flecked surface. Wild storms tear over 
suddenly from the mountains, and the grand shining 
hne of the Alps rises fantastically on the horizon, a 
never-ending source of inspiration for poet and painter. 

The people impressed me as being particularly kind 
and warm-hearted, and even their slow broad dialect 
struck my ears pleasantly (although I could not under- 
stand it), in comparison with the abrupt and slangy 
speech of the people in Berlin. Those who know the 
Bavarians well tell me that they are not quite so simple 
and kind as one might beUeve at first sight. They 
are in reality more comphcated and more endowed for 
good and bad than the Prussians, who at present seem 
to be intensely nervous and irritable compared with the 
people of Munich. The Bavarians, they say, Uke all 
mountainous people, are passionate and violent of tem- 
perament, and in spite of a generous breadth of feeling 
in their character, they are wary and suspicious with 
strangers under the surface. They have a deep feeUng 
for humour and sarcastic wit, but they are not a talkative 
race and despise the loud-voiced vulgar garrulity of the 
Berhner. They are very gifted, most of the German 
artists of note being Bavarians by birth, and the many 
schools of art in Munich are all more or less inspired by 
the grandeur of this most beautiful of all German lands. 

My nephew Norbert, who is nineteen years of age, has 
just been staying with us. He is on leave, after having 
been through the whole of the Western offensive. His 
descriptions of it are terrible. For six days and nights, 
he says, they lay in the front trenches, with nothing to 
eat but what they found in the English trenches on the 
first day. From these they obtained a perfect banquet, 
such food as none in Germany is accustomed to any 
longer, with cigarettes and other luxuries. 

He described to me the friendly manner with which 
they discussed the war with EngHsh of&cers who were 
taken prisoners. One Englishman, on being asked when 



BERLIN, JUNE 1918 231 

peace would be, answered : " Well, I suppose it will take 
two years more before you are really beaten." 

He told me that the English gas is much more deadly 
than the German ; that French strategy recently has 
been better than their own ; and that the Americans 
are daily becoming a more serious asset to the enemy, 
as each day more troops are pouring in, all fresh and 
well equipped, a contrast to the tired-out troops opposing 
them. 

The food question is always the most important topic 
of the day. The less there is of it, the more do we talk 
of it. The Austrians have already eaten up their stores, 
and are grumbling and turning to Germany for fresh 
supphes. It is rather hke tmrning from a sandy desert 
to a rocky mountain for nourishment. And there is 
unfortunately no Moses to show us the way to a promising 
future. 

We ourselves have httle to eat but smoked meat and 
dried peas and beans, but in the towns they are consider- 
ably worse off. The potatoes have come to a premature 
end, and in Berlin the population have now a portion 
of I lb. per head a week, and these even are bad. The 
cold winds of this wintry June have retarded the growth 
of vegetables, and there is almost nothing to be had. 
We are all waiting hungrily for the harvest and the 
prospect of at least more bread and flour. 

Here is an extract from a letter from Berlin : 
" What do you say to Kiihlmann's speech ? The 
article criticizing it in the Vossische Zeitung this morning 
is about the acme of foolishness. It tries to prove that 
Napoleon only waged war to break the ambitions of 
England, just as Germany is doing now. Napoleon's 
way was rather a round-about one, to say the least of 
it, with his uncomfortable expedition to Moscow. But 
then, of course, Russia was polluted by Enghsh influence, 
and Napoleon had to try to crush that too ! 



232 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

" How weak-minded people must be growing through 
the war to make that article possible ; whilst to count 
on its being beHeved is almost a sign of something more 
than weak-mindedness. 

" You will probably have heard about the fearful 
state Cologne was in, on account of the flyers, though it 
was not allowed to be in the papers. A hundred persons 
were killed, and the wounded in the hospitals are dying 
because the exploding powder was poisoned. In the 
hospital of St. Vincent the people could be heard shriek- 
ing with the great pain, and the syren goes continually 
warning one of the danger." 

Kiihhnann's speech has fallen hke a bomb, and every 
one is discussing it. As a pohtical act it invokes criti- 
cism, and would have been admirable, in my view, if 
he had not yielded to pressure and recanted the next day. 
His action is incomprehensible : he ought to have said 
his say and abided by it. Now he has lost ground on 
aU sides, and the house in the Budapester Strasse will 
soon see a new tenant. Every one seems to agree that 
what he said was the truth, and nothing but the truth, 
but it was a heinous offence to say it. 

The unfortunate " peace " reports, those ghostly birds 
of despair, are again flitting about amongst us. We hear 
that a Dutch committee is circulating notices to the effect 
that the conference in The Hague should be turned into 
a Peace Congress. This too belongs to the region of 
Utopia, I am afraid. I have seen one of these notices 
myself. It pretends that Lloyd George, Wilson, and 
Asquith are aU quite willing to Usten to the proposal ! 
Too good to be true, I fear. 

I have been much interested in following the negotia- 
tions at The Hague regarding the exchange of prisoners 
of war. My husband and I were pleased to see that men 
like Prince Hatzfeldt and Baron von der Heydt have 
been chosen among the envoys on the German side. 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JULY 1918 233 

They are old acquaintances of ours, and as they have both 
hved in England and America, they will know how to 
negotiate with the other side better than many others. 

Baron Kiihhnann was dining the other evening at the 
Larisches', and sat next to me. Being a Bavarian, he has 
much of the genius of that nation, and a great deal of 
their renowned disregard for convention and fearlessness 
of public opinion. He made many enemies in the first 
days of his office in Berlin by turning out all the useless 
decorative " Hofrate " of the Foreign Office, and nomin- 
ating men he thought more capable in their place. 
These were chiefly Bavarians too, so that he caused a 
good deal of bad blood amongst the Prussians, who are 
all, of course, now trying to trip him up. Argus eyes 
watch his every movement, and though he is at present 
too popular with the majority in the Reichstag for them 
to attack him publicly, they are waiting for a chance to 
catch him in his private hfe. 

Krieblowitz, July 1918. — ^The lack of clothes and 
boots and shoes is growing more and more disastrous. 
In summer people can manage to scrape along, as every 
one is more or less shabbily dressed, and people in the 
country and smaller towns wear wooden sandals in place 
of shoes, the children either going bare-footed or stocking- 
less, as a rule. They run about merrily enough with 
their httle bare brown legs. In the big towns, of course, 
more boots and shoes are worn ; but here too a virtue is 
often made of necessity, and wooden sandals are the 
unwiUing fashion of the hour. 

It is next to impossible to get new boots and shoes. 
By bribing a shoemaker who is the lucky possessor of 
leather with a pound of butter or some bottles of wine, 
he may promise to make you a pair at the end of six 
months, for the price of 100 to 150 marks, in the country 
80 to 100 marks. The ready-made boots available in 
Berlin are mostly of an extremely inferior quality, made 



234 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

of common grey cloth and bad leather ; they cost about 
50 to 60 marks, and are only to be had by the customer 
going and standing outside the shop some five or six 
hours before it is opened. In Berlin the shoe shops are 
not opened before 10 o'clock in the morning. A friend 
of mine, after running from one shop to the other for 
days, at last managed to buy a pair of boots for her 
httle girl eight years old. The first time the child put 
them on, they cracked and split in a dozen places, and 
they discovered that the material was not leather but 
wretched cotton stuff covered over with a thin veneer of 
varnish. They had cost 27 marks. 

A costume, jacket and skirt, of good cloth costs from 
400 to 800 marks ; formerly it would have cost 80 marks. 
Very thin cotton stockings of a cobweb fabrication cost 
from 10 to 20 marks a pair. Calico for underclothes is 
not to be had. 

In the country aU the old forgotten arts of hand- 
spinning and weaving are being cultivated again, and 
careful housewives are busy preparing flax for spinning 
in the long winter evenings. Every peasant has now 
his patch of ground covered with flax, and the women 
in some places bring to light splendid roUs of strong 
home-spun linen which have been stored up for years. 
They have it dyed and made up into practical and 
tasteful dresses for themselves and their children. 

Many people keep two or three sheep for the sake 
of their wool. Nearly every village possesses some old 
dame who stiU understands the art of spinning wool into 
coarse worsted which is then used for stockings. 

Except as regards hght, people are better off in the 
country in every way than in the towns. From other 
parts of Germany I hear that the peasants have enough 
to eat, and look in splendid condition. They are gaining 
more money for their produce than has ever been known 
before ; they have all the necessaries of existence near at 
hand, and are able to lay by an ever-increasing balance 
in the bank. On the other hand aU farm-buildings are 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JULY 1918 235 

growing dilapidated, and they are not able to mend or 
replace the necessary implements of work. Moreover, 
the farm-stocks are being so reduced by lack of fodder 
and the slaughter of milk-cows for food, that farmers 
tell me the capital necessary for repairing and buying 
up new stock when the war is over will swallow up all 
their savings. 

At Krieblowitz we ourselves are self-supporters, and 
live in a patriarchal way, the whole house being depend- 
ent on the results of my husband's shooting — at present 
wild duck and roe-buck. As in the good old days (how 
good we never knew until now) of the dark ages, he goes 
out daily with his gun and brings back something for 
dinner. If he is lucky and has more than we want for 
our own needs, we exchange the surplus with the trades- 
people for butter, eggs, sugar, articles of clothing or 
anjrthing else that is only to be obtained by bribery of 
this kind 

It has become a yearly institution to invite a number 
of town-children from the poorer classes for the summer 
months. Every country house, castle, and peasant's 
house is called upon to keep and feed so many. They 
are very interesting httle people, and talking to them 
one can get a deep insight into the privations and suffer- 
ings of the people in the big towns. Many of them, too, 
have already experienced strange adventures and vicissi- 
tudes, and three of those here can hardly speak any 
German at all. Their father had been a civil prisoner 
in England until last year, and their English mother 
had had to support the family in a London suburb 
during the last two years of the war. In England they 
had been looked at askance for being German, and here 
they have the greatest difficulties at school, as they are 
only able to speak EngUsh. 

I am glad to say we are at last able to communicate 
with our own Russian prisoners, from whom we have 
always been cut off until now by a similar difficulty of 



236 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

language. Madame Rizoff and her two children have 
been staying here. She is the beautiful young widow 
of the Bulgarian Minister, who died three months ago in 
Berlin. She is here for a change of air and scene, and as 
she speaks Russian perfectly, I got her to talk to the 
Russians. We are not really allowed to address them, 
but their fervent gratitude at hearing their mother-tongue 
was worth the risk of disobeying orders for once. 

They told us how happy they were to be here, and 
that before they came they had been in a prison camp 
with 13,000 other Russian prisoners who were literally 
treated like animals, being herded together in a yard, 
sleeping on straw and fed like swine. Five thousand 
of them had absolutely died of neglect. It had been like 
coming to heaven, they said, when they arrived here, 
where every one had a smile for them and was so friendly. 

They knew all about my being EngUsh and having 
brothers fighting on the other side, and of my husband 
having been to the Caucasus. 

They ended by saying they hoped to stay on here 
until the end of the war, and that they certainly did not 
wish to return to Russia in its present disturbed state, 
and that in any case any fate was better than the misery 
and filth and horrors of the Russian trenches in the first 
years of the war. 

The news of Graf Mirbach's death to-day in the paper, 
and the cold-blooded way in which he was murdered, 
has given me a great shock. My husband is especially 
affected by it, as they were very intimate friends, and 
Mirbach was such an attractive, quiet personage. 

One feels the tragedy of an individual case like this 
so much more keenly when one has known a man well. 
Count Mirbach dined with us several times in the week 
before his departure for Moscow in March, and he was 
then very sad and depressed, assuring us that he did 
not in the least appreciate the honour done to him by 
being chosen as Ambassador. He realized the danger of 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JULY 1918 237 

his position even then, and packed his things with a 
heavy heart, filled with forebodings, and dreading the 
effect of the parting on his old mother, who perfectly 
comprehended what such a journey meant. 

Amongst the many visitors here this summer one 
hears a great deal of tittle-tattle about people in high 
places, and a good many guesses are made as to the way 
His Majesty would accept a reverse of a very decisive 
order. Peoj^le say that, although his attitude has not 
shown conspicuous moral strength, he is not physically 
a coward, and would rather die with his troops than 
return with a vanquished army ; whilst others say openly 
that if he only had the courage to abdicate now, he 
might save his whole country from the terrible fate 
impending. 

Another discussion touched on the extraordinary way 
in which Germany has always imderrated the importance 
of the danger coming from America, almost the whole 
country making fun of and laughing at the idea of an 
American army. Some one who happened to be present 
with His Majesty at the time when Roumania declared 
war, and also when the news of the American declaration 
became known, assured us that on the first occasion 
the Kaiser came into the room trembling and white as 
a sheet, his knees shaking as he said, " All is over ; I 
may as well abdicate at once " ; whereas on the second 
occasion he and those round him were jaunty, laughing, 
and sa5dng that it made no matter at all, as America 
could never get an army together, and if it did, they 
were much too far away and could never possibly get 
their troops over because of the submarines. 

I wonder why they did not hsten to the few wise 
people who perceived the danger of the American inter- 
vention in all its sinister meaning, as it is now proving 
to be the final undoing of Germany. 

In the meantime, Kiihlmann has succumbed to the 
attacks of the Pan-German party, and gone the way of 



238 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

all Ministers for Foreign Affairs in Berlin. No enlight- 
ened man can stand up against the dark powers of the 
military intrigues, but we feel very little interest in 
anything at present but the news coming from the West 
Front. 

The great French " counter-offensive," as the new 
term goes, has begun, and the French are again on the 
Mame, and the south bank is again in EngUsh hands. 
Chateau-Thierry has been taken, 20,000 prisoners and 
400 guns. People here may well look grave ; the mean- 
ing of America is coming home to them at last. They 
comprehend now that it means an increase of the French 
reserves at the rate of 300,000 fresh, weU-equipped men 
per month, whilst Germany can bring up no fresh 
reserves. General Foch, with his talent for waiting, 
seems to be the great French General at last. 

This success has been mainly won by the French and 
American troops. In four days General Foch has com- 
pletely transformed the situation in the West, and the 
German blow at Paris has failed. Here people ascribe 
the bitter reverse to deserters having betrayed the 
German plans, and to the " unshattered nerves of the 
fresh Americans," whilst others speak lugubriously of a 
newly invented artificial fog arising from the enemy's 
lines, which completely hid the fatal attack of the tanks. 

I was very glad to see that the Enghsh Press com- 
ments on the decent state in which the Germans left 
Chateau-Thierry, comparing it advantageously with their 
behaviour when they occupied Belgium. 

We are expecting further severe attacks, and Germany 
will be confronted by new tasks, but the bulk of the 
people still have unUmited faith in Ludendorff and 
Hindenburg, although they know that they are burning 
their stores and blowing up their ammunition in their 
retreat. 

It is sadly tragical to look on and see the slow fate 
of Germany overtaking her. I, who have watched the 
people struggling, and seen their unheard-of sacrifices 



KRIEBLOWITZ, AUGUST 1918 239 

and stolid resignation, cannot but pity them from my 
heart. In spite of their odious officialdom, which makes 
the Prussians so disliked everywhere, the whole world 
must admire them for the plucky way they have held 
out, and even the enemy says how pathetic it is to see 
the poor, half-starved, half-clothed German soldiers 
going bravely forward to meet all those fresh well-fed 
Americans. 

In the estimation of many, it is but the first move 
of those very Americans towards the conquest of Europe. 
She seems to have all the AUies in her hand akeady. 

As was to be foreseen, the Czar has been murdered : a 
wretched end, and yet almost the only possible one for 
such a pitiful monarch, burdened from the cradle with 
the sinister heritage of merciless barbarous forefathers. 
" The sins of the fathers shall be visited on the children " 
is what forces itself on one's brain, thinking of his miser- 
able death. What will become of his children ? Russia 
is at present like an enormous arena chosen by fate for 
the scene of a million bloody tragedies, and we are the 
cold-blooded spectators looking on. 

Krieblowitz, August 1918. — ^The cold dry weeks of 
June and the despondent outlook for the harvest gave 
place to rainy weeks in July, which came in time to 
repair the damage done, so that the promise of a good 
harvest cheered the hearts of the hungry watching 
people ; and August has fulfilled these expectations, and 
the crops have proved to be abundant everywhere. Only 
the late com and oats are suffering under the cold rainy 
weather of the last two weeks, and the precious cut 
com is beginning to sprout, too damp to be brought in. 
In these lean years the eyes of all Germany follow 
anxiously the news of the harvest in the newspapers. 
The late potatoes are a success ; one can hear the 
universal sigh of rehef at these tidings. 

Meatless weeks have been ordered, as too many 



240 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

milk-cows are being slaughtered. If the war continues 
much longer there will be no Uve stock left at all. 

Our house has been full of guests for the last six 
weeks, which has consequently brought us a lot of news. 

I have already mentioned Madame Rizoff and her 
two children. She is now a penniless widow. We heard 
that her husband died of a heart-shock brought on by 
excitement at the German peace with Russia. He was 
a very clever man and foresaw what a fatal peace it was 
for Bulgaria, and how unwise (in her own interests) it 
had been of Germany to make such a peace. Rizoff had 
a high reputation as a politician, and too late, after the 
peace had been ratified, the Emperor consulted him and 
said, " If only you had given me your views and opinions 
before ! " This is quite characteristic of Germany ; she 
always recognizes her diplomatic and pohtical mistakes a 
few days too late. 

Baroness Sternburg was here too, and was daily 
receiving news from American friends to the effect that 
the American laws are being made so severe against 
German ahens that any one communicating with their 
relations in Germany wiU lose their money, and it is 
very uncertain if it will be refunded to them afterwards. 
What a panic there will be among the German and 
Austrian princes and dukes who have married American 
heiresses ! 

Herr von Jagow and his wife were also among our 
guests for some time, and my husband's old friend Count 
Richard Coudenhove, who had been a prisoner in Siberia 
for two years and had much that was interesting to 
relate about Russia and the Russians. 

I will not name aU our guests, but will give a few details 
of the more interesting things they told us. 

The universal opinion is that the new State Secretary 
von Hintze, though personally a nice man, is not a clever 
one, and his appointment was a great surprise. His 
Majesty put him into office without consulting Hertling 



KRIEBLOWITZ, AUGUST 1918 241 

at all. Kiihlmann, they said, was so swollen with his 
own importance that, when summoned to headquarters 
after his famous speech, he imagined he was going to be 
congratulated on it, instead of which he was greeted by 
His Majesty in his impulsive way with the words, " I 
have appointed Hintze in your place." 

People say that Kiihlmann made his fatal speech on 
the spur of the moment, without consulting Herthng at 
all. This is quite in accordance with his character, as 
he is always more inclined to act on the inspiration of 
the moment than to subject his actions to carefully- 
thought-out plans. 

The whole pohtical situation is so perilous at the 
moment, that every one feels something momentous 
must be going to take place. The constant changes in 
official circles denote weakness and uncertainty, and 
there is in reahty no strong man at the wheel of the ship 
of Germany. 

" A victorious army never rebels," people say, but an 
army in retreat is very hable to be seized by the spirit 
of mutiny, and certainly the mass of the population here 
would be ready to back any definite movement. 

Capitalists and large landowners are beginning to talk 
in earnest of the possibihty of their land being confis- 
cated and their property divided up in the Bolshevik 
manner. The whole pubhc spirit is so depressed and the 
universal suffering so great, that the people are threatening 
to take matters into their own hands. You can hear 
this intention expressed at every street corner. A shop- 
girl said it openly to my husband the other day : " We 
are going to stop the war now ; those in command have 
failed entirely and have never kept their promises which 
they so often made." Another friend heard in the tram : 
"It is high time for the Emperor to abdicate to bring 
about peace, and the sooner this is made clear to him the 
better." 

The soldiers are embittered at the way they are 
treated in comparison with the officers, and the country 

R 



242 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

is overrun with invalids with grievances. Wounded 
men refuse to consent to operations which might heal 
an injured limb, on the ground that they would then be 
sent back to the front, and they have no intention of 
going there. 

Every one is now able to see through the official 
telegrams which for so long hoodwinked the masses. 
They know that the constant shortening of the front 
spells " Retreat." They know, too, that troops are 
again being transported back to Russia, where the great 
combat between English and German influence is in full 
force. The whole economic future of Germany depends 
on her getting a firm footing in Russia, and having com- 
mand of the vast unexploited treasures waiting for 
Western capital to develop. This, they say, accounts 
for the murders of Mirbach and General von Eichendorff . 
The murders are systematic, 

LudendorfE has publicly acknowledged the failure of 
the great offensive ; it seems the growing lack of ammuni- 
tion is the ominous cause of the defeat. So many guns 
have been left in the hands of the enemy, and there is 
not enough iron left to make new ones. 

There have been pubUc protests against the misleading 
statements made by Prince Heinrich as to the results 
of the Marne battle, on the same day that Ludendorff 
had admitted that their strategic plans had failed. He 
naively seems to have thought that the opinion of some 
unknown Turkish attache, that the Marne battle was a 
German victory, was of more importance than the con- 
fession of the great generals. It is so incredibly fooUsh 
to try and hoodwink the people like this, when the truth 
must ultimately leak out. 

The Bavarians have a special complaint that the war 
reports are always partial to the Prussians. They say 
that as long as the losses of life and material are sustained 
by the Crown Prince's army, no mention is ever made 
of them ; but as soon as Prince Rupprecht's army is 



KRIEBLOWITZ, AUGUST 1918 243 

being beaten, every detail of the defeat is made public, 
and an open confession is made of tlie enemy having 
penetrated the German Unes. 

It seems impossible now for Ludendorff to force any 
decisive successful battle this year. Officers here say 
that his plan of separating the British army from the 
French was not impossible and would have been successful, 
if the heavy losses of the AUies had not been so speedily 
made up again. In a single month 355,000 men were 
thrown across, and every gun had been replaced. 

It is apparently the unity of command which restored 
the AlUed fortunes, and if the American troops go on 
coming over at the rate of 300,000 a month, the American 
army alone will soon be as big as the German. 

Men home on leave have been giving me vivid descrip- 
tions of the last great fights, and one's brain grows weary 
of it all. No wonder that half the army have ruined 
nerves ! 

One young officer, just returned from the front, 
stated that 30,000 German prisoners were taken on one 
day, and that eight of his brother officers were killed at 
his side in one minute, he alone surviving. 

They say that air-battles have been the most character- 
istic feature of the offensive, there being sometimes as 
many as forty planes engaged in the air, and that the 
swift advance of the Allied armies was mainly due to the 
systematic co-operation of aeroplanes and tanks. The 
Germans withdrew without destroying any land, so that 
no " no man's land " was created this time, that great 
numbers of artillery officers were taken prisoners, and 
every one speaks of the pluck of the British tank-crews 
with great admiration. 

In their retreat the Germans destroyed their petroleum 
dumps to prevent them falHng into the hands of the 
enemy, and my narrators described the effect of the 
burning stuff rising like great forests of flames in the 
darkness of the night ; but in spite of their retreat 



244 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Ludendorff succeeded in getting his guns away from the 
Enghsh pursuers. 

There are reports current here to the effect that 
King Ferdinand is going mad, and is subject to fits of 
melancholy and weeping. This, I presume, we may 
class with the rest of the reports of this nature, according 
to which all the remaining monarchs in Europe should 
have been long since dead or in a mad-house ; although 
the responsibility of this war is enough to send any one 
into an asylum. 

Ferdinand is probably frightened at the dimensions 
which the Czecho-Slovak uprising is taking on. It has 
come in most opportunely for England, and may mean 
the freeing of Russia from the Bolshevists and prove a 
serious check to Germany's plans. 

I was intensely glad to see that twenty-nine British 
officers succeeded in escaping from that wretched camp 
at Holzminden ; one is only surprised at their being able 
to dig out a tunnel of sixty yards long without being 
discovered. I wish more could escape in the same way. 

Berlin, September 1918. — We are again in Berlin, 
but only for a few days on our way to Munich, while 
Gebhard is attending the extra sitting of the Herrenhaus. 
The members have been called up to try and settle the 
Prussian Suffrage Reform Bill, which is always being 
shelved, thereby causing a great deal of bad blood. 

This Bill is a typically characteristic instance of His 
Majesty's rash impulsive way of acting. He promised 
universal franchise to the people, and now the Herrenhaus 
has to try and help him out of the quandary by amending 
the Bill in such manner that what it gives with one hand 
will be snatched away by the other. At the same time 
it is almost certain that if the people do not gain their 
votes, this, combined with the retreat, will lead to a 
very desperate state of affairs sooner or later. 



BERLIN, SEPTEMBER 1918 245 

Berlin is indeed a gloomy place at present. The 
news from the front is more and more depressing, there 
is nothing to eat, and the methods employed to prevent 
the depression from gaining ground goad the people to 
fury. Hindenburg has forbidden any one, whatever his 
personal feeUngs may be, to speak of the present position 
as being an5d;hing else than hopeful ! The grotesque 
irony of such a command, when the AUied troops are 
advancing hourly, would be amusing if it were not so 
tragically foolish. 

Prince and Princess Taxis dined with us one night. 
They had returned quite unexpectedly to town. They 
had been staying with her mother. Princess Metternich, 
near Wiesbaden, but the danger of the aeroplane attacks 
had been so great that, after spending several nights in 
the cellar, they preferred a hurried retreat to such a 
perilous sojourn. The castle is on the direct route to 
Frankfort, and the flyers all passed over it. They 
described the terrifying but marvellous spectacle of such 
an attack ; the planes skimming along Hke big birds, 
surrounded by smoke and exploding shells ; the black 
night suddenly rendered lurid by the fire from the defence 
guns ; the awful noise of shooting all over the town, 
and the crashing of faUing bombs on the houses. On one 
day ten flyers were brought down and forty people were 
killed in Frankfort, besides many dangerously wounded. 

I was glad to see a face the other evening which re- 
minded me keenly of other times. We were dining at 
the Adlon with Prince Pless, Prince Hatzfeldt, Graf 
Magnis, and Herr von Jagow. We were waited upon by 
a very smart gentleman whom I thought I had seen before. 
He informed us that he had been head-waiter at the 
Carlton Hotel in London for seventeen years, and had 
at once recognized Gebhard and Prince Pless. 

The tables were filled with different members of the 
Herrenhaus, and as all the numerous pohtical grievances 



246 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

of the day were being eagerly discussed, it was interesting 
enough to Usten to them. The articles by Dr. Davis, 
the Kaiser's American dentist, were the chief topic in the 
Enghsh papers. We all feel that it is not quite square 
to publish these little private sayings, uttered in con- 
fidence in an idle moment, and which take on such a 
different colouring when seen in the glare of the hostile 
searchUghts of peoples at war. They are significant, 
however, of the mental cahbre of Davis, whose Memoirs 
would have no interest but for this Royal gossip. The 
courtiers here are quite right for once — " If he will make 
a confidant of a dentist, what else can you expect ? " 

On my remarking to my neighbour at dinner that I 
imagined the Memoirs were very much exaggerated he 
laughed and said, " Oh, not in the least ; the Emperor 
has often boasted of the home-truths he had been telUng 
his dentist." I asked him what the Emperor must think 
of it now. " Oh," was the reply, " we take good care 
that he does not see the EngUsh papers while there are 
such things in them." 

To-day Gebhard lunched with Graf Oppersdorff to 
meet the Russian revolutionary representative Joffe. 
It was very interesting, of course, although they had to 
avoid politics. Gebhard describes him as a clever, 
ordinary international Jew, who has been all over the 
world and speaks every language. He praised England 
tremendously, admiring especially the methods of English 
poHtics and colonization. 

How curious it is to note the immense power which 
a handful of Jews have suddenly gained in the country 
which until now was the seat of absolute despotism, and 
where for centuries the Jews have suffered such a martyr- 
dom of cruel oppression. It almost looks sometimes 
as if our httle continent were destined to be the bone 
for America and the Jews to pick. 

We are on the way to Munich, where I hope to spend 
some weeks. I hear that the feehng between Prince 



MUNICH, SEPTEMBER 1918 247 

Rupprecht of Bavaria and the Crown Prince is so em- 
bittered that the Bavarian Prince has threatened to 
withdraw his whole army. 

Munich, September 1918. — A propos of peace — I have 
just heard a story which has really made me feel a httle 
more cheerful, as it is founded on fact. A man here, a 
high official, has a friend who before the war held a 
responsible position in a big bank in London. A few 
weeks before it broke out, he was dismissed from the bank 
on the grounds that there was going to be trouble with 
Germany, and that he had better get back there as soon 
as possible. At that time there were no pubhc rumours 
of war. He has been in BerUn ever since, and about a 
fortnight ago he suddenly received a letter from the afore- 
said bank, offering him a new post in it with a high 
salary from the ist of October 1918 onwards. He was 
more than astonished and wrote back, sajdng there must 
be some strange error, for the war was waging more than 
ever, and he could neither quit Germany nor enter Eng- 
land, as far as he could see. Whereupon he received a 
prompt answer saying that there was no mistake, and 
repeating the offer of the post from the ist of October. 

It is very hard to write anything definite about the 
present state of things here. I myself feel almost 
frightened at the way things are closing in on aU sides 
on Germany. The Germans calm one another by 
saying that the retreat is only impelled by strategical 
motives, and that Hindenburg means to take up his 
position on the Siegfried line behind the Scheldt Canal, 
whilst the hostile forces are meant to spend the winter 
in the devastated land outside. 

I wonder what the real meaning is. Do Hindenburg 
and Ludendorff at last reaUze the truth of Kiilhmann's 
words, " The war can never be settled by militaiy 
methods alone," and are they cunningly retreating in 
time, that peace may be based on the fact that the German 



248 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

army has quitted the enemies' land ? Or do they fear 
the spirit of their own troops ? Again and again I have 
heard rumours of German regiments refusing to attack when 
ordered to do so ; in other words, that a spirit of mutiny 
is arising here and there amongst the exhausted soldiers. 

Munich, Sunday, September 29, 1918. — To-day I 
noticed an especially scared look on the faces of those 
around me, and on my inquiring what had happened 
they told me that the Allied troops have made another 
combined offensive and have managed in places to break 
through the Hindenburg line ; that news has come of 
Bulgaria's movement towards a separate peace ; that 
Malinoff has already proposed a truce, and that all the 
Germans residing there have been given notice to leave 
the country, and that Czar Ferdinand is about to abdicate 
in favour of his son. In addition, the news of the Turks' 
defeat in Palestine has become a pubhc fact. This means 
of course an end to Germany's dream of a colony in Asia 
Minor and a direct traffic route from the Baltic Sea to 
the Gulf of Persia, whilst the Bagdad railway hne will 
remain a monument of things that were not to be. 

And yet, with ruin staring at them on all sides, there 
are still people here who continue to protest that every- 
thing stands well, and that any one who spreads a 
report to the contrary will be punished with five years' 
imprisonment with hard labour. 

Down here, in a quiet retreat in Munich, I expected 
to be quite out of touch with the feverish world of to-day, 
especially as at this time of the year there is no one as a 
rule in town ; but I have been agreeably disappointed, 
and during my three weeks' stay here have met more 
friends and heard more news than during the whole last 
six months. 

Amongst the many birds of passage who have passed 
through during the last ten days were two very interest- 
ing figures, no less personages than those young Princes 
of Parma, brothers of the Empress of Austria, who 



MUNICH, OCTOBER 1918 249 

negotiated with Clemenceau some six months ago, and 
are said to have handed over the notorious " Peace- 
letter " written by the young Empress. Great excite- 
ment would prevail were their presence here known, as 
having served in the Red Cross Department of the Belgian 
army they are considered to be hostile. This casts a 
glamour of romance over their appearance, which is 
further heightened by reports of one of them being be- 
trothed to the future bride of the Crown Prince of Bavaria. 
They were seen to enter the " Konigshof," the hotel where 
my husband is staying, on a visit to the old Queen of 
Naples, who has hved there since the beginning of the 
war, and who is herself a romantic figure, reminding us 
of historical episodes of an almost forgotten past. 

Munich, October 1918. — The crash has come at last, 
and although so long expected, it seems very sudden to 
most of those people who insisted on always looking at 
things through spectacles couleur de rose. The strangest 
thing to me is the panic which seems to have seized on 
those very men who, until now, have borne the responsi- 
bility of all the calamities of the last four years with such 
stoical optimism. 

Hertling, the good old pohshed man of learning as he 
is, has accepted the situation, and has made his exit with 
the quiet courtly bow of the last representative of the 
ancien regime, and a new era has set in. 

Here is another of those strange paradoxes which the 
war has so often shown us : the heir-presumptive to a 
throne chosen as their leader by the men who are striving 
to abohsh all thrones for ever. Enter Prince Max of 
Baden, who has in reahty been quietly working together 
with Solf, ever since last autumn, to bring about just 
that event which seems to have faUen so unexpectedly from 
the skies. It remains to be seen how far this new man 
will acquit himself of the almost superhuman task of 
clearing this modern German Augean stable of the collected 
abominations of strife and warfare. Impossible as the 



250 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

task seems, the gesture with which he undertakes it has 
already won him the confidence and sympathy of more 
than half the people of Germany. 

On the whole a great sigh of rehef escapes from the 
hps of the tormented nation on this eventful Sunday in 
October 1918, when the new peace programme has met 
the eyes of the world. 

" This means peace ! " you can hear at every corner 
of the streets, where people stand hurriedly reading the 
unusual news. And " peace " smiles in the eyes of every 
little shopgirl in the baker's or grocer's shop as she 
hands you your loaf of coarse half-baked bread, or bag 
containing 100 gmis. of lard. 

For the wealthier classes and the miUtarists things bear 
a different aspect. They could very weU support another 
year or so of the war materially, as they are not half- 
starved and overworked hke the greater mass of the 
people. For them the metamorphosis from rosy dreams 
of world-power and expansion and increased wealth 
to the gloomy reahties of an impoverished, humiUated 
Germany is all too overpowering. 

I wonder what the feehngs of a Ludendorff and a 
Hindenburg must now be ? As the move can never have 
been made without their consent, they must indeed re- 
cognize the hopelessness of their position and the defeat 
of their plans. So many figures of colossal import are 
striding across the stage of Europe to-day that one can 
only find a parallel in the classical days of history. One 
would expect Shakespeare to arise again from his quiet 
resting-place in the little church at Stratford to pen the 
dramas of aU these men, kings and princes, warriors and 
statesmen, who, filled to overflowing with some frenzy of 
patriotism or self-worship, have fought hke fanatics, only 
to be toppled over and cast aside by the impulse of some 
divine law. 

Ludendorff, the strong dictator, is said to have had an 
interview with the Kaiser a few days ago, during which 
he burst into tears, admitting that nothing more could 



MUNICH, OCTOBER 1918 251 

be done by his army, and begging the Kaiser to dismiss 
Herthng and bring in a democratic government under 
the banner of the Sociahsts. 

What must this step have cost a man hke Ludendorff, 
who until now was the greatest opponent to Sociahsm, 
thus having to plead its cause ? 

For the ordinary looker-on this new peace movement 
is so surprisingly quick and sudden. Is the Kaiser in 
such fear of losing his throne that with one swoop he leaves 
his high place in the sun of the divine right of kings, and 
agrees to all these new demands which practically deprive 
him of the most precious jewel in his crown, and leave 
him an ordinary mortal hke other people ? There are 
many persons who admire him more for this one act than 
for any previous one during his reign. He, as well as 
King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, has probably made a virtue 
of necessity, and seeing the shades of Bolshevism approach 
every day nearer, has crowned the long years of his reign 
with an act of abnegation. 

Naturally the Pan-Germans are still shouting and pro- 
testing in the old bombastic rhetoric for which they are 
so famous. The pillar-posts are covered with blood- 
curdhng placards, depicting the towns on the Rhine 
devastated by bombs and fire, in case the miUtary 
efforts of the army relapse, and an open-air demonstra- 
tion has been made in front of the " Iron Hindenburg " 
in the Tiergarten without the police of the now demo- 
cratic government interfering, a thing which would 
have been impossible under the iron rule of the mihtary 
dictatorship. 

In the meantime we are all in an agony of suspense to 
know what Wilson's answer will be. Will he prove him- 
self great enough to bear the huge responsibility of the 
destiny of almost the whole world, which fate has placed 
in his hands ? Will he recognize himself as the instru- 
ment of a divine will, or show himself to be but the puppet 
of party strifes and short-sightedness ? These and many 
other questions people are pondering with anxious eyes. 



252 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Berlin, October 17, 1918. — We returned to Berlin 
yesterday, and find things in a terrible state of depression 
and gloom, portentous of the break-down which we have 
been expecting for so long. One hears the wildest rumours 
as to what is going on, and every moment some one keeps 
coming in with a fresh account of what is supposed to be 
taking place. 

Ludendorff has had a nervous break-down. The army 
is practically in a state of mutiny, and one whole division 
is said to have already surrendered. The soldiers, they 
say, are already turning on their officers and throwing 
hand-grenades at them, and a train full of officers return- 
ing from leave back to the front was stopped, and they 
were all forced to get out and return home. At the same 
time one hears of innumerable soldiers writing home in- 
dignant at the proposition of an armistice, and saying 
they will not hear of one on the terms proposed by the 
Entente. 

The population of the Rhine Provinces are shuddering 
at the idea of the huge German army setthng down to 
winter quarters in their land, as they say there is no 
more discipline left. I even heard of people in Frankfort 
being privately advised to leave, as it has been whispered 
the enemy might possibly be there in a fortnight. 

In any case, exaggerated as these reports may be, the 
universal demorahzation of the people is very great, and 
one has sometimes the impression of a flock of sheep who 
have lost their leader and are going about in a dazed sort 
of manner, looking about for a loophole of escape from 
the impending evil. 

Somebody told me of having seen King Ferdinand at 
Mannheim, when he was there doing his cure, and heard 
his farewell words, which had been : " Au re voir next 
year, when I shall be back again for the cure as a private 
gentleman, no more as a king. My friend WiUiam will 
also have abdicated by then ; he and I have both out- 
lived our time." 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 253 

The Emperor — the poor Emperor ! " How are the 
mighty fallen." The Caesar once so omnipotent, with his 
dream of riding down that magnificent Heer Strasse at 
the head of a conquering, victorious army, passing through 
the massed multitudes assembled to greet him, entering 
Brandenburger Tor, the smiUng figure of Victory point- 
ing the way down Unter den Linden ! And now this 
shadow of a king, strugghng with destiny to keep his 
throne but a few days, a few hours, longer. 

I have felt bitter enough towards him at times in the 
past, thinking he could have done more to prevent the 
unnecessary suffering and cruel methods employed during 
the war : in particular, the violation of Belgium's neu- 
trahty ; the sinking of the Lusitania ; Miss Cavell's 
death ; the ruthless submarine warfare ; the use of 
poisonous gases ; and the senseless air-raids over un- 
fortified towns. 

But now that his time has come, one pities him. A 
deplorable position for a great king to be the object of 
pity. Why has he let things go so far ? Why has he not 
already abdicated, instead of waiting until he is forced to 
do so ? Every child in the street is saying, " The Kaiser 
must go." He absolutely seems to cling to his shadow 
of a throne, and people say, curiously enough, it is the 
Kaiserin who is advising him and begging him not to go. 

Last Sunday he was seen walking through the Tier- 
garten, a white-haired, broken man. At least he shows 
physical courage in doing this, as there are, I believe, 
men enough who would like to shoot him. 

It is a pitiful sight to watch the death-throes of a 
great nation. It reminds me of a great ship slowly sink- 
ing before one's eyes, and being swallowed up by storm- 
driven waves. I feel intensely for Germany and her 
brave long-suffering people, who have made such terrific 
sacrifices and gone through so much woe, only to see 
their idols shattered and to reahze that their sufferings 
have all been caused by the blundering mistakes and 
overweening ambition of a class of " supermen." 



254 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

What a bluff this whole last offensive has been ! It 
really looks Uke a mad adventure on the part of Luden- 
dorff, seen in the Hght of ulterior events. They ought to 
have accepted the American proposal of peace made last 
January. Prince Rupprecht as well as Hindenburg urged 
the Kaiser to do so, but it seems that the Crown Prince, 
and especially Ludendorff, begged for one last offensive. 
How right Hindenburg was when he said : " Let us 
threaten the offensive as much as you Uke, but let us 
avoid it at all costs." 

It is said that the Emperor was absolutely in the dark 
as to the real strength of the American army, Ludendorff 
suppressing all information, so absolutely did he rely on 
his offensive. On hearing this I could not help exclaim- 
ing : " WeU, however much Ludendorff wished to keep 
the Emperor in ignorance, surely the Emperor could have 
found it out for himself, as he sees the English papers." 
He probably is Uke the unbelieving audience to whom I 
remember reading the following extract from an Enghsh 
paper : " Last week 35,000 American troops landed daily, 
and the Americans are landing on an average 350,000 
troops a month." The only remark I heard on it was : 
" Bluff ! Enghsh newspapers always lie ! " 

At the same time the poor soldiers declare that it is 
not so much the overpowering number of the American 
troops which has turned the tide, as the fact that there 
is no more rubber left to make gas-masks, and that they 
cannot face the gas without them ; and then the terrible 
Enghsh tanks. The poor fellows shudder at the very 
name of them. They say they were prepared for ten or 
twenty, but during the last few weeks they have been 
advancing in columns of hundreds. Even the German 
officers admit that this form of weapon is the first military 
invention which has proved too much for the genius of 
German mihtarism. 

The news of the sinking of the Leinster has just reached 
me. What a deplorable deed, to say the least of it ; 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 255 

just at the eleventh hour, when Germany is trying to 
prove to the world that she desires peace simply from 
hmnane reasons. At that very moment she orders the 
sinking of the Leinster, and 450 English civihans are 
drowned, most of them women and children. Of com^se, 
Germany excuses herself with the old tale that it was a 
mistake, and that she has had no time to call in her 
submarines. At the moment when Germany's destiny is 
hanging on a hair, such an awful responsibiUty is left to 
the discretion of the lieutenant in charge, and he, as it 
happened, is a boy of 22 years of age, who by his error 
plunges hundreds of families in sorrow, and again summons 
up the burning indignation of all England. 

Berlin, October 23, 1918. — To-day there was a general 
feeUng of suppressed excitement everywhere in BerUn. 
The Reichstag was opened, and every one was quivering 
with excitement to hear the new Reichskanzler's speech. 

The new Note to America was made pubhc, and then 
Wilson's answer to Austria fell like a bomb-shell. It 
means the entire break-up of that country, and for people 
in any way connected with it. Personal friends of mine, 
the Larisches, came to see us. They say they feel as if 
the ground had been suddenly cut away from under their 
feet. Everything changes for them, as their father's 
estate will become Polish, and they are only one example 
out of thousands. 

Austria will be reduced to quite a small kingdom, but 
as the young Kaiser very sensibly says, he much prefers 
being king over a small, happy country than being 
Emperor over a big, unhappy one. Perhaps Kaiser 
Wilhelm will come to look at things in the same way. 

Meantime the aversion towards the Kaiser is increasing 
daily. Wilson's answer to the second German Note will 
probably decide his fate. As events go, it looks pretty 
clear that disturbances and riots, even civil war, are not 
to be evaded. From our windows last evening I could 
see rows of armed policemen hning the street, and on 



256 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

inquiring what they were doing there, was told that the 
people had threatened to attack the Admiralty as a 
demonstration against submarine warfare. The whole 
affair, however, ended calmly, and there were no riots. 
The Germans luckily do not know how to make an 
effective demonstration. 

Mounted poUcemen patrol the streets near the Bran- 
denburger Tor day and night, and one has an unpleasant 
feeling that our house will be one of the first to be raided, 
if anything serious does occur. It is very difficult to 
know what to do ; in the country the castle would be 
attacked for food, and here the Bolshevist element will 
probably let themselves go at the big houses near the 
Tor, although some people say we are safer here than 
an3Avhere else in Berhn, as machine-guns are in readiness 
all round this part of the town. I cannot say that makes 
the vicinity more attractive on the whole. Many people 
have already hired cellars to retire to in case of emergency, 
and are hiding their silver and valuables. 

Berlin, October 24, 1918. — Last evening there was 
another demonstration going on under our windows, 
caused by the triumphal procession accompanying the 
notorious Socialist, Liebknecht, who has returned from 
prison, where he has been for the last two years. He 
was seated in a carriage with his wife, surrounded by 
flowers, and they drove slowly by the Reichstag and 
through some by-streets, landing finally at the Russian 
Embassy. There Liebknecht addressed his assembled 
friends in a speech tainted with Bolshevism. 

The people are gradually awakening to a sense of their 
power, but all the same there are still invisible hands 
pulling the strings of justice, or rather injustice, and ready 
to nip any pacific movement in the bud. A large peace 
meeting was dispersed two days ago, the orator not 
being allowed to speak, on the plea that no permission 
for the meeting had been obtained, although the request 
had been sent in three times. 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 257 

Whilst depicting the last agony of the country at large, 
one is apt to forget the sufferings of the individual, but 
what the war is not destroying in human hfe, the terrible 
grippe epidemic is carrying off. One hears of whole 
families dying out in a few hours, and it is an extra- 
ordinary fact that most of the victims are young girls 
and women. An uncanny idea, death thus restoring the 
balance between men and women for life. 

There was an unusual hour of excitement and interest 
to-day in the Herrenhaus, which generally dozes over 
questions of moment. My husband and eleven others, 
Prince Pless, Count Magnis, Counts Galen, Hochberg, etc., 
suddenly took a line of their own, stood up, and declared 
their intention of voting for the Universal Suffrage Bill. 
There is no doubt that it will soon be a fait accompli. 

There is great groaning over the hardness of Wilson's 
second Note. A man from The Hague tells me that Wilson 
would hke to make moderate terms for Germany, but 
that England and France are blind with victory, and will 
not let him do as he Ukes. They mean to punish Germany 
for her falseness and for her brutahties. He added : 
" England seems quite to forget that for four years they 
have shut off Germany from the outer world, and have 
been cold-bloodedly starving her women and children the 
whole time." 

There are different points of view — each nation's vision 
is only focussed on the brutalities of the other. 

Another man, a German officer who has just returned 
from three years' imprisonment in England, declares that 
it was the sinking of the Lusitania, the death of Miss 
Cavell, and the Zeppelin raids that raised the English 
army. Before the Lusitania there had been no en- 
thusiasm in England about the war, but after that they 
were all like mad dogs let loose, and rose as one man to 
avenge the dastardly deed. 

As for air raids, I am told I must not give my views 
on this subject, but I have good reasons for feeling bitter. 

s 



258 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Last spring my mother had to go to a nursing home in 
London for an operation. The very night after the 
operation there was an air raid near her hospital, and 
the fright brought on a heart collapse so that her life 
was despaired of. 

Berlin, October 26, 1918. — Gebhard heard from the 
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, whom he met in the Herren- 
haus, that the Emperor does not mean to abdicate unless 
he is forced to. He was so terribly cut up by the bad 
news from the front, that he collapsed and retired to bed 
for three days ; but as soon as he received the news of 
some local success he quite cheered up again, and became 
as sanguine and hopeful as ever. This change of mood 
is typical of the Kaiser and all his entourage ; they 
are entirely swayed by the news which is dished up to 
them by Ludendorff, and seem incapable of forming an 
independent opinion of their own, otherwise things could 
never have come to such a pass. If the Kaiser had really 
investigated all the information of the last twelve months, 
and, above all, hstened to the pessimists, he would not 
have been so surprised by the turn things have taken 
now. 

Prince Miinster, who was again here last night, told us 
he had been spending the day trying to see Prince Max, 
who is laid up with grippe. If things were not so tragic, 
I should be inchned to smile at some of the incidents 
which thrust themselves on one's vision at the most critical 
moments. Picture, for instance, Prince Max, a man on 
whose every word the whole world is waiting, lying in 
bed in a high state of fever, and his worried A.D.C. going 
in and out on tip-toe, anxiously trying to extract an 
answer on matters of burning importance. 

Luckily, Prince Max seems to be at last the right man 
in the right place. People have confidence in him here, 
and in England they seem to be appreciating his poUcy. 
I see there was quite a laudatory article on him in the 
Nation. It is said that when he has once assured himself 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 259 

that a thing is right, no Ludendorff or any other power 
on earth can persuade him to act to the contrary. 

Count Paul Miinster, who was dining here last night, 
gave us a graphic account of his journey from Hanover, 
His train was packed with German civilians returning 
from Belgium. They were rather depressed at the manner 
of their exodus, for, having devoted themselves during 
the last four years to the work of helping the population, 
spending time and money on the reorganization of the 
ruined land, in return the inhabitants spat in their faces 
as they left. 

One of them described the return of the King and 
Queen of the Belgians from their long exile ; it must 
have been a moving scene from all accounts. They landed 
at Ostend, and were carried shoulder-high by English 
sailors, amidst dense throngs of people all bowing to 
the earth in reverent respect. Not a word was spoken, 
he said ; only a murmur of welcome and relief passed 
through the massed populace, who could not speak for 
tears of emotion, and it might rank as one of the most 
impressive scenes in history. 

Berlin, October 25, 1918. — Nothing but Wilson's third 
Note is being discussed now, and as the translation is 
extremely unclear, every one interprets it according to his 
own sweet will. I have now seen the original English text, 
which has been published in some of the German papers, 
and we at once saw there was only one interpretation 
possible, which is that the Entente do not wish to negotiate 
until the Emperor abdicates, as they do not trust his 
word. 

This reading seems to have struck other people in the 
same way, for a luncheon party was quickly arranged at 
Prince Eulenburg's house to-day, at which the Kaiser 
assisted; and where it was discussed whether he should 
abdicate at once or not. They seemed to have decided 
to break off negotiations and to stand by the monarchy, 
or at least leave the casting vote to Hindenburg. 



26o AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

I was just on the point of going to bed when a message 
came saying that Prince Miinster wished urgently to see 
us. He told us that he had heard of the aforesaid resolu- 
tion, and was brooding on it on his way here to ask us 
to give him some dinner, when he suddenly felt he must 
do something to prevent Germany making such a hope- 
less mistake. So, certain that Hindenburg would be 
dining at his usual quarters at that hour in the Generalstab, 
he had gone straight off there and asked if he could see 
the Field-Marshal. On being told that he was at dinner, 
he begged the astonished Ordonnance-officer to give his 
name to the Field-Marshal, and ask if he might have a 
few moments' conversation with him. A few minutes 
later Hindenburg came out into the hall, taking him by 
both hands and shaking them wannly, at the same time 
asking him, " What is it ? " He asked Prince Miinster 
to join him at supper, and in the dining-room a place was 
immediately made for him next to the Field-Marshal. 

He then explained that he had heard of their intention 
of breaking off negotiations, in order to save the Kaiser, 
and entreated them to reconsider their decision, or in any 
case to take time and keep things going, not to commit a 
step which must inevitably imperil the Fatherland, 

To these words Hindenburg only answered gloomily, 
" I stand or fall with my Kaiser." 

Prince Miinster did not let himself be discouraged, and 
continued his argument. He said that if the Field- 
Marshal as well as the Kaiser went, there would be no 
central figure for the people to look up to, and the country 
would be inevitably lost, that the nation must have 
some one in whom they could trust, some one who repre- 
sented their ideals, or chaos and anarchy would infaUibly 
ensue. To which the company present said, " Hear, 
hear ! " He argued that if Hindenburg stayed on, they 
might still save the Kaiser, hear what the Allies had to 
say, and keep on with the negotiations. Should the 
conditions for an armistice be incompatible with the 
honour of the nation, then they would appeal to the 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 261 

country and make a last stand, the like of which had 
never been known. 

Hindenburg was deeply moved, and hurried into his 
military motor to drive straight to Prince Max at the 
Foreign Office, to offer him his decision. They are now 
there settUng the matter. 

One hears so many confficting opinions about the 
Kaiser's abdication that it is difficult to arrive at any 
definite conclusion oneself, without perhaps doing injustice 
to a man who I beheve, whatever others may say, only 
acts from a high sense of duty. On the one side it seems 
as if it would bring peace nearer if he went, as he, hke 
all HohenzoUerns, has deprived the people (or at least 
wished to do so) of their own free will in the question 
of government, and has prevented their expanding or 
developing pohtically, fearing it might lessen his personal 
power. On the other hand, the HohenzoUerns rescued 
Prussia from a state of poverty and insignificance, and 
consolidated the German Empire into a power so great 
that it has taken the efforts of the whole civihzed world 
to break it But now the course of history is being 
changed, ancient forms of government must disappear 
under the stress of new ideas and new forces, and as some 
one said to me, " The German nation must be apparently 
disloyal, to save themselves from themselves." In other 
words, they must put their honour aside and make what 
may seem a " dishonourable peace," to save the country 
from inevitable effacement. 

It seems to me, whatever way they decide, the end 
will be the same, so better now than later. If it came to 
an appeal to the country, half the men would not respond, 
as they ask why they should sacrifice themselves when 
the end is pre-ordained. It is known and owned by many 
miUtary men that the guns are worn out, that the Enghsh 
and French ones shoot farther, and that a great deal of 
the ammimition does not fit, so that the artillery could 
not last more than a fortnight. 



262 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

My personal feelings of dislike and bitterness towards 
the men who have perpetrated so many brutal deeds 
during these four years is counterbalanced somewhat 
by sorrow for the good and brave men of this land who 
have sacrificed so much for false ideals, and at the sight 
of a great country crumbUng into ruins, destroyed by 
the culpable ambition of a few self-seeking men. My 
feelings are shared even more intensely by other English 
women married to Germans, who are all more or less 
pained at the downfall of a nation which has offered so 
much to the world, and whose fundamental feelings 
and attitude towards hfe in general are more in harmony 
with our own than those of any of the Latin races, 

Berlin, October 29, 1918. — Things seem to be hurrying 
towards a catastrophe, and the new Government, the 
heirs to. all the enormous errors of the late one, are 
having a hard time of it to keep law and order. For the 
moment everything seems to be depending on the Kaiser's 
abdication. Public opinion says that as LudendorfE has 
gone he ought to go too, and the road to peace would be 
smoother. Like two drowning men, the one is dragged 
down by the other to destruction. It is said that on 
Ludendorff's proposing his demission to the Kaiser, the 
latter accepted it with the words, " In fact, it would 
render my position easier if you went," and nothing more. 

The whole country is waiting breathlessly for the 
conditions of the proposed armistice, which the Entente 
are about to issue, and which every one surmises will 
be utterly impossible. Prince Miinster has just come in 
from the Kriegsministerium and the Auswartige Amt, 
and reports that they too are prepared for the terms 
being unacceptable, and there is one party which hopes 
that the country wiU call up every available man to 
make a last desperate stand, after the old platt-deutsch 
motto : " Lever dod als Slav ! " 

I see that Balfour and Lloyd George have gone to 
Paris, and that Lord Grey and Henderson have joined 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 263 

Lord Lansdowne in his " Peace Campaign." Things 
appear to be tending to an end at last. The next few 
weeks will be harrowing to a degree, but the general 
opinion is that peace will be signed on or about New 
Year's Day. 

The Emperor left for the Grosse Hauptquartier 
yesterday evening ; there were reasons for beheving 
that he was in danger here, so he has been sent away. 
The barracks in Berlin were closed last Sunday. No 
soldier had leave ; they were told off in small companies 
with loaded rifles to guard the castle and keep order in 
the streets. Rumours were abroad that the Russian 
Embassy is a nest of Bolshevism and is secretly spreading 
it all over Germany, and Liebknecht is beginning to-day 
the first of a course of eighty speeches in different towns, 
each of which will begin with the words : " Two years 
ago I went into prison a sociaUst. I have come out of it 
an anarchist. I will tell you the reason why." 

It appears that Hindenburg did send in his resignation 
a few days ago, but withdrew it after much persuasion, 
and Prince Miinster, who dined here last night, confessed 
that he could not help feehng a httle proud seeing that 
Hindenburg has followed his advice as to the delay. He 
told us that, among other things, Hindenburg has said 
to him : " You advise our postponing the breaking off 
of negotiations until we have seen the conditions of the 
armistice, but do we really need to wait before we see 
them ? You know as well as I do what they will be hke." 

Prince Miinster further showed us a copy of his letter 
to Hindenburg, setting forth reasons for his remaining 
in office. I give one of the chief paragraphs here : " The 
German people would not have understood if they had 
j&rst been told that the present Government and the 
sudden peace offer of same, which must have seemed 
quite inexphcable to the uninitiated, was made ' at 
the request ' of the Oberste Heeresleitung (the military 
leaders). And now, if this same Oberste Heeresleitung, 



264 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

at the moment when Wilson declares himself willing to 
carry out the mediation for which he has been asked, had 
declined same without waiting to hear the conditions 
which the hostile military leaders will fix as introduction 
of eventual peace negotiations, then our people would 
have lost their faith in the man whom they made their 
ideal. Now they wiU recognize that they were right in 
doing so. Uphold them in this faith, Herr Feldmarschall, 
by dutifully and unselfishly remaining on in these most 
hitter times ! This faith in you is the only thing that still 
remains to the uncertain Fatherland to fortify it. Should 
you go too, then Bolshevism will descend upon us." 

Ludendorff is regretted by few. His most ardent 
admirers are now his chief foes. They try to do him 
justice, calhng him the " German Napoleon " with the 
keenest brain in the country, but, as they say, he and 
Hindenburg have brought the country to this pass, by 
dehberately deceiving the people and by underestimating 
the economic capabilities of their own land, as well as 
those of the enemy. He was a military despot, and at 
the same time a tool in the hands of a few great industrials 
who worked him for their own ambitious ends. He alone 
is responsible for the unexpected offer of peace put forth 
by the Foreign Office, which seemed to most people a 
sudden and untimely confession of weakness. He had 
at last realized how useless any further fighting was, 
and in a moment of panic telegraphed to the Foreign 
Office, hoping to put all the onus of the act at their door, 
but they in return have exposed him and his doings. 

The more one thinks over the history of this war, 
and the terrible sufferings of the German nation, the 
more one is astonished at the way they have borne the 
yoke which has been laid on them. Seemingly not one 
single man (with the exception of Liebknecht and Harden, 
who were promptly punished for it) has ever dared to 
stand up pubUcly and protest against a system which 
was so palpably leading the country to destruction. It 
almost seems as if the whole nation had been hypnotized. 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 265 

and if any one gave the slightest signs of awaking from his 
phlegmatic trance, he was treated as a dangerous lunatic 
and put into a strait-jacket. 

It seems to me that the loss of position and fortune, 
even of life itself, would have been worth the effort of 
saving the country. But so few men are possessed of 
moral courage, while they nearly all have physical 
courage, and would much more readily stop a bullet 
than try to stem the tide of popular opinion. 

Professor Nicolai, whose open appeal to his country- 
men in the Times I have just been reading, is one of the 
very few men who dared to seem disloyal to his country, 
purely from reasons of loyalty. For venturing to attack 
the German methods of warfare he was degraded from 
his rank as army surgeon and incorporated as a private 
combatant soldier, and only evaded certain death at 
some exposed position at the front by escaping to 
Denmark in an aeroplane. 

Berlin, October 31, 1918. — The news of Austria's 
separate peace has fallen hke a bomb on poor Germany, 
who Uke a sinking ship sees herself being deserted, even 
by the rats, as some one bitterly remarked. Now 
Austria, which, for unpohtical people, was the spark 
that set the firebrand in flames and involved Germany 
in the conflagration, has betrayed her in a dastardly 
manner. 

This morning my maid came into my room to tell me 
that Emperor Karl had fled from Vienna, taking eighteen 
vanloads of furniture with him and all the crown jewels. 
He is said to be seeking refuge in a castle in Hungary, 
which, judging from the chaos and revolutionary spirit 
surging there, seems rather extraordinary. 

My husband's man of business rang him up just now 
(10.30) to say that, although it is not yet in the papers, 
Germany is already acquainted with and practically 
has accepted the terms of the coming armistice, and 
that in effect they mean capitulation. Some of the 



266 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

conditions seem to be as follows : Cologne is to be occupied 
by the English, Baden-Baden by the Swiss, Strassburg 
by the French, Metz by the Americans, Heligoland by 
the EngUsh, and so on. 

The other conditions will soon become pubhc property. 
I just note down these items as interesting me most. 

The German banks have in a way ceased payment, 
as there has been a panic for the last week. There is a 
rush, and over five milliards have been drawn out by 
the people. In order to prevent a catastrophe no one 
may draw out more than 200 Mks. at once. 

Every moment the telephone brings us fresh tidings 
of foreboding for Germany. Its shrill call seems ominous 
of coming evil. The Austrians, they say, are helpless 
to prevent the enemy marching through their country, 
and the French and Italian troops are already approaching 
Germany. The former they expect through Dresden 
and the latter through Bavaria, while the Serbians will 
come through Silesia. 

The Austrian troops are already returning in dis- 
orderly bands, plundering the villages through which 
they pass for food, and a state of confusion reigns in the 
Austrian Embassy here, nobody knowing to whom they 
are responsible for anything. 

Our friend Count Larisch has received a wire from his 
father in Austrian Silesia, advising him to come at once 
and help to arrange matters. On preparing to start 
they were told it was practically impossible to get there, 
as the whole railway service in Austria is disorganized. 
Another friend, Graf P , an Hungarian in the Em- 
bassy, has also had a telegram from his father bringing 
the news that his sister's castle in Hungary has been 
burnt to the ground and nothing is known of the fate 
of his sister and her eight children. 

In addition to the news of burning castles, destroyed 
crops, dismembered countries and the approaching enemy, 
friend Death is making havoc among the population at 



BERLIN, OCTOBER 1918 267 

home in the form of the grippe. There is hardly a family 
that has been spared. From our housekeeper at Krie- 
blowitz I hear that the whole village is stricken with it, 
and the wretched people are lying about on the floors 
of their cottages in woeful heaps, shivering with fever and 
with no medicaments or any one to attend them. The 
doctor from Canth is unable to come, as he is absolutely 
overworked, having the whole district to look after, 
his colleague being already dead of the grippe. I wired 
at once to the Convent of the Grey Sisters at Breslau, 
asking them to send a nurse, which they did immediately, 
and I heard this morning that from the moment of her 
arrival she only had three hours' sleep for the next 
forty-eight hours, there were so many people to attend to. 
Again I telegraphed to Breslau begging them to send 
another sister to help- but they replied regretting that it 
was impossible to do so, as the epidemic was so virulent 
in Breslau there was not a single sister to be spared. I 
then hurried away to " Wertheim's " (the Harrods of 
Berhn) and bought up as many clothes and comforters 
as I could without a " Bezugschein," to send to the poor 
people, and bribed the saleswomen in the different 
departments to sell me things bj^ promising to send 
them each a partridge for dinner. They told me that 
hundreds of their staff were at the moment laid up with 
the grippe, and that seventy of their girls had died last 
week of it. 

Herr B , who has just arrived from Hamburg 

and lunched with us to-day, says it is hke the plague 
there, 400 people dying in one day ; and as they have 
not coffins enough to put the corpses in, they have used 
furniture vans to carry them to the cemetery, and on the 
way there an accident happened to one of them ; the 
van fell over and the poor bodies fell out and were strewn 
all over the road. How ghastly ! 

We are returning every day nearer to the barbarism 
of the Middle Ages in every way. I am often astonished 
that there are no religious fanatics nowadays to run 



268 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

through the streets, dressed in sackcloth and ashes, 
and calling on the people to repent of their sins. 

Berlin, October 1918. — Last night Prince Miinster, 
who dined with us, told us that he had been to the officers' 

prison camp in N to see Mr. F., a son of an English 

friend, and was shocked to find that his nerves and his 
health are utterly broken down, as he had been a prisoner 
ever since August 1914. He had been happy enough, 
he said, as long as other Enghshmen had been with him ; 
but, on their all being repatriated, he was left alone with 
only the companionship of French and Roumanians. 
This, together with the monotony of only being allowed 
to walk round one square garden for four years, had so 
told on his nerves that he felt he was going out of his 
mind. 

Prince Miinster, who is always very kind-hearted in 
such matters, telephoned to the Commandant of the 
Xth Army Corps, and obtained permission to have him 
removed to a rest-cure resort in the Harz Mountains, 
and, wonderful to relate, was so eloquent that he gained 
permission to carry him off then and there to his own 
place in Derneburg for three nights. 

One can imagine the joy of Mr. F. at once more finding 
himself in the midst of the comfort and luxury of English 
home-hfe with an English hostess at the head of it. 
Princess Miinster was at home, and, needless to say, 
took care that he should enjoy those two days. Prince 
Miinster then wrote to Prince Max of Baden, reporting 
the whole case, and Prince Max, who was ill with the 
grippe, telephoned to him, giving him a free hand to act 
as he liked in the matter. He came at once to us to tell 
us the good news and to get our help in making the arrange- 
ments for his immediate return to England. Prince 
Miinster brought him to lunch with us on his way to 
Aachen. You can imagine what an interest it was to us 
to see and talk once more with an English officer, and to 
speed him on his way, and what pleasure it gave Princess 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 269 

Miinster and myself when we heard that he had safely 
arrived in England. 

Probably Mr, F., who has been shut up all these four 
years in a German military camp, will never realize to 
the full what Prince Miinster has done for him. Only 
my husband and myself know how much credit he deserves 
for this great act of kindness, and what a feat he has 
performed in overcoming all the difficulties in the way. 
He has simply spent the last four days going backwards 
and forwards between the Kriegsministerium and the 
Auswartige Amt, meeting at every step with fresh difficulty 
and being continually referred to somebody else. But 
Mr. F. told me that he did understand, and would always 
feel an undying gratitude towards Prince Miinster. 

Curiously enough, Prince Miinster tells me that the 
man from whom he received the kindest aid in the matter 
of repatriating Mr. F. is General Hanisch, the Commander 
of the Xth Army Corps, the very man whose name is held 
in abhorrence in England and other countries, as the 
arch-Hun in torturing and worrying the prisoners. 

Berlin, All Saints' Day, November 1918. — November 
has set in with its usual cheerless atmosphere of dull 
grey impenetrable mist. 

I have just returned from early Mass and still feel 
some of the peace one can only gain to-day from com- 
munion with the dead. They alone know peace in these 
days of fierce strife and hatred when every man's hand 
is directed at his brother's throat. Sometimes, indeed, 
something Hke a thrill of envy seizes on me, when I hear 
that he or she, people I have known well, have fallen 
asleep, aU the horrors of existence over — " Ueberwunden," 
as the Germans say. Ah ! who knows what we all have 
stiU " zu iiberwinden ! " Years perhaps stiU of malice 
and hate before the sun again sets over a world full of 
charity and goodwill. 

Hardly had we left the quiet holy atmosphere of the 
church, when Graf Westfalen told me the news of Graf 



270 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Tisza's murder. He had been shot walking with a lady 
in the street, and she had been wounded too, it seems. 

Baroness Sternburg came in to see me in a great state 
of perturbation. On her way she had met Frau von 
Schwabach, the wife of one of the great bankers here, 
who had confided to her that she had all her most valuable 
jewels in her muff, and was carrying them to the bank, 
as a revolution was expected within the next three days. 
She added that they were sending all their most valuable 
pictures into a place of safety, and had themselves decided 
on dispersing, each to some different place, as it will not 
be safe to stay on in their big luxurious house in the 
Tiergarten. 

Baroness Sternburg had just been to the bank to try 
and get some money, but they had refused to change 
her cheque. The bank manager, however, had given her 
£50 from his own money, sajdng he had known her for 
years and was so sorry for her in her lonely position here. 

Countess Radolin and her sister. Baroness Bissing, 
came in to lunch. They were nearly heart-broken at the 
break-up of Germany, They are so essentially Prussian, 
and such fervent royalists, that they could not speak of 
the expected abdication of the Emperor without tears in 
their eyes. They are, of course, absolutely military in 
their ideas, and blame the Foreign Office for all the 
mistakes that have been made. I suggested that perhaps 
Ludendorff ought to have a great share of the blame too, 
but they would not hear of it ; and I wondered to myself 
whether they realized, what we were perfectly cognizant 
of, that Baron Bissing had intensely resented Ludendorff 's 
interference in the government of Belgium, and had en- 
tirely disapproved of Ludendorff's ordering the deporta- 
tion of Belgian workmen into Germany. In fact he had 
even sent in his resignation because of it, but had been 
prevailed to stay on, and died shortly afterwards. He 
let it be thoroughly well known, however, that Luden- 
dorff was interfering too much in many departments of 
administration about which he knew nothing at all. 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 271 

7.30 P.M. — ^This afternoon May Larisch came in, full of 
fresh news as to what is going on in Austria. She also 
blames Ludendorff, on the ground that Count Czernin had 
personally begged him several times during the course of 
the last eighteen months to make peace, as Austria could 
not hold out any longer, but that the " Dictator " would 
listen to no one. She told me, too, that Prince Max 
Fiirstenberg has arrived this morning from Vienna and 
reports that all is quiet there, and that the Emperor has 
returned temporarily, but his family and household are 
still in Hungary. 

The Austrian Ambassador, Prince Hohenlohe, and his 
wife have gone to Vienna to receive orders, as all com- 
munications by telegram and telephone have been cut off 
for the last few days. 

Our nephew, L. C. S., came in to tea and stayed to 
dinner. He is working at the Press Bureau of the General 
Staff, and says he sees many interesting telegrams that 
are never published at all, and that the war telegrams 
in the papers are very different from the original ones 
received. He says that Erzberger is now their chief, and 
all telegrams and correspondence have to be submitted 
to him, and that Ludendorff' s successor is Erzberger's 
and Scheidemann's friend, and, although a General, he 
has never been to the front at all, but has been working 
in one of the Wirtschaftsamter here in Berlin throughout 
the whole war. He has been chosen for this responsible 
position in order to please the people, with whom he is 
very popular, as he never forbade their holding socialistic 
meetings or making demonstrations. 

He further told me of a meeting he had witnessed a 
few days before between Hindenburg and Tirpitz. Tirpitz 
had asked for an interview with the Field-Marshal, but 
having been shown into the room, Hindenburg received 
him very coldly and immediately showed him out again, 
saying that his time was so taken up he could not give 
him an interview. This demonstrates clearly enough 
how much the Field-Marshal and the military authorities 



272 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

blame Tirpitz and the U-boat war for the chmax of 
to-day. 

Berlin, Sunday, November 3, 1918. — The universal 
opinion is that things are coming to a head this week, 
and the movement will probably begin to-morrow. No 
one seems to be quite clear whether it will be the long- 
whispered Revolution (with a capital R), or whether the 
masses of the people are going to revolt and turn on their 
tormentors, as they now regard the ruling classes. 

We have been warned to keep our outside blinds 
down all day, and to make ourselves as little observable 
as possible. I begin to feel that our house is in an 
unenviably prominent spot, and that any one inclined 
to wreak their feelings of revenge on Brandenburger Tor 
would probably include us as well. 

They say it is to be a choice between Scheidemann 
and the Emperor. One of them must give way, and the 
people are going to settle which of them it will be. 

The Russian Embassy is the centre of much suspicious 
observation. There has been a remarkable number of 
Russian couriers arriving for some time past with boxes 
and baggage of all kinds, which are never examined, of 
course. These couriers are never seen to return. There 
are reports that the Embassy itself is full of ammunition 
and weapons, and we suspect it is a hotbed of Bolshevism 
and anarchy. They ought to have been sent away before. 
Liebknecht is seen to be constantly going in and out of 
the Embassy, and publicly proclaims his anarchistic views. 

It is expected that the conditions of the Armistice will 
be made known to-morrow and will be accepted by Ger- 
many on Wednesday, and then we may look out for riots. 

We continue hearing distressing reports of the wild 
disorder prevailing in Austria and Hungary. Nearly all 
our own personal friends are grievously affected by it. 
A friend just arrived from Vienna told us that near Horn, 
Count Hoyos's estate, thousands of Italian prisoners have 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 273 

been liberated by the Czechs, and are now at large 
ravaging and plundering all the castles in that district, 

I hear that the Entente does not by any means intend 
leaving Austria at the mercy of Germany, which is 
brimming over with wrath at the way Austria has stolen 
a march and concluded peace alone. The Germans 
forget that Austria made an earnest entreaty to Prussia 
last year to make peace, and on her refusal entered into 
private negotiations with America with the present re- 
sults. And now the almighty Wilson is going to protect 
the broken-down peoples from the anger of their former 
allies. In the meantime the land is Uke a seething cauldron 
of furious nations all more or less at war with one another, 
with the hapless young Kaiser trying in vain to still 
them. 

We continue hearing such ceaseless abuse and criticism 
of Kaiser Wilhelm that I sometimes feel like blushing with 
shame at people who have always professed such loyalty 
to their sovereign, and now that the reins of government 
are slowly falhng from his hands turn round and openly 
rend him. Just those who were amongst the most cringing 
of his satelHtes are the most ferocious in their attacks on 
him, and do not hesitate to denounce him publicly at 
luncheons and dinners. Many of them he has really 
made, and these are the worst. 

The deplorable part of it is that, whilst condemning 
them, I have to ask myself whether these people may not 
be right ; and if he really is false. People who know 
him best, and who try to do justice to his character, say 
Kttle more than that he is a man of very able parts, 
possessing a wonderful memory and an unusual capacity 
for comprehending technical questions of engineering, 
architecture, etc. 

Yesterday I had tea with Frau Solf , and we had a long 
talk together. Poor woman, she was very sad, and on 
my congratulating her on her husband's position, she only 
answered : "It has come too late. A year ago there 

T 



274 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

might have been reason for congratulation, but now all 
the mistakes have been made and he will have the thank- 
less task of negotiating with England, knowing that he 
cannot save the situation, as he might have done a year 
ago." Further, she said, she was in constant anxiety for 
his Hfe and health, for besides working unceasingly night 
and day, they had received all sorts of roundabout 
threats that, when disturbances should occur, her husband 
and the other ministers will be in great danger. 

I have just been warned by a friend who shall be 
nameless that the demonstrations are to begin to-morrow. 
This made me very nervous, and I asked him if they 
expected bloodshed of any kind. He said he hoped not, 
as they had managed to get the Bolshevist Embassy 
away in time, otherwise no one knows what might have 
happened. They were hurried off last night with scant 
ceremony, so that they may be across the frontier by 
to-morrow. One of their numerous cases which I men- 
tioned burst open conveniently in the luggage compart- 
ment, and a whole mass of papers came to Ught, fuU of 
anarchist proclamations to the people, stirring them up 
to bloodshed and plunder. 

My friend said it was he who had given the order for 
the Embassy to be removed, and the mission had to be 
carried out as secretly as possible, so as to take the 
conspirators by surprise and prevent them having any 
opportunity of communicating with any one here. The 
commissaries of the police suddenly appeared at eleven 
o'clock last night, ordered them to be ready to leave by six 
o'clock this morning, and stayed on keeping a strict watch 
over them, not leaving them until Joffe with his personnel 
of seventy Russians were safely despatched in the seven 
o'clock train this morning, \\ithout any one in BerUn 
being aware of the fact. 

I must confess I heaved a sigh of relief at this news. 
Please God it will save bloodshed to-morrow, and at any 
rate we have a body of some fifty policemen always in 
readiness lodged in the stables at the back of our house. 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 275 

My friend smiled. " I don't think you will have one of 
them here to-morrow, as they will probably all be busy 
fighting the rabble in the street," he said. 

On my husband's return I of course recounted all 
these interesting facts, whereupon he at once sent for the 
head of the pohce, and without appearing to know any- 
thing of coming events, presented him with a box of 
excellent cigars, in return, as he said, for their looking 
after us so well all these days. The man told him that 
some of his men had just been called out to put down a 
demonstration in front of the Russian Embassy. 

If any one had told me years ago that I should ever 
be within a few miles of a " revolution " breaking out, 
with the probability of blood being shed, I should have 
been paralysed with fear. And here we are face to face 
with one, and I even feel comparatively calm and thank- 
ful, because from information received, the revolutionary 
party have decided to pass by our house without plunder- 
ing or demolishing it, as my husband has never taken 
any active part in politics and they have nothing against 
him, 

Berlin, November 8, 1918. — To-day is the fourth 
anniversary of my brother Wilfred's death, who fell at 
the battle of Ypres. We went to early Mass this morn- 
ing to commemorate it, and on returning from church 
we were greeted with the news that the Socialists had 
given the Kaiser an ultimatum for abdication until one 
o'clock to-day. From that moment we have been in a 
ceaseless state of unrest and anxiety. We are completely 
cut off from the outer world, as all train services are 
suspended in and out of Berlin. Even the telephone has 
been cut off between Berhn and other places, and no 
telegrams can be sent off. This morning we tried to 
telephone to Krieblowitz, to hear whether our Jager w^ho 
is bringing us our food supply had. started or not, but 
were unable to do so. 

As we are practically at an end of our provisions, 



276 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Gebhard went out in search of food, and managed to 
bring in quite a quantity of things — ducks, a turkey, 
vegetables, etc. — a proof that there are still some things 
to be had by paying a high price for them. 

I had been advised not to leave the house, but between 
twelve and one o'clock eventually went out to get a httle 
fresh air. The Wilhelm Strasse was Uned with armed 
policemen, and all the different ministerial offices were 
closed very early and the employees sent away, as every 
one had been warned that raids from the mob were to 
be feared. Thousands of loafers were standing about 
Brandenburger Tor, others of a rather rough-looking 
appearance were marching towards the castle. Early in 
the morning I had been already awakened by the sound 
of loud singing in the street, and on looking out of the 
window I saw hundreds of young sailor lads marching 
by, carrying parcels and looking very pleased with them- 
selves. No one seems quite to know who they are, or 
what they are doing here. Some say they have mutinied, 
seized the trains by force, and come to Berlin for protec- 
tion, having killed or imprisoned eighty of their officers 
beforehand. Others are said to be expected from Kiel, 
and the Stettiner station is being armed, artillery being 
posted there to prevent the trains being seized. 

Prince Wedel, whom we met in the street, shook his head 
and repeated what many others are sajdng, that it was a 
mistake of the Kaiser not to have come to Berlin and faced 
the people. He presumes he is anticipating the wish of 
the Sociahsts to hand him over their ultimatum personally. 

Berlin, Evening, November 8, 1918. — Baroness Roeder 
and her husband, who only arrived from Stuttgart yester- 
day, came in to see us. They have been spending the 
summer in Switzerland and were exceedingly surprised 
to find what a state Germany is in, and especially the 
pandemonium existing in BerHn. He, poor man, is look- 
ing quite crushed and broken-hearted. For him life is 
practically over. He was Master of Ceremonies, and for 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 277 

more than fifty years a faithful courtier to the Emperor ; 
and now at one stroke the whole structure of existence 
dissolves before his eyes and melts away as if it had never 
been, leaving him stranded. There wUl be probably no 
pension forthcoming, and so the future is a perfect blank 
to them. In addition to this they have just had the 
terrible news of their son-in-law's death at the eleventh 
hour. Only a few weeks ago he had come into his father's 
estate and fortune, and now everything goes to his Uttle 
son, a child of five years old. 

The particulars of this officer's death, as he related 
them, are very harrowing to hear. He was colonel of 
one of the crack Wiirttemberg regiments, and a great 
favourite and very popular with every one. The officers 
\mder him were the flower of Wiirttemberg. They were, 
strange to say, in reserve and seemingly out of all danger, 
with no idea of an attack, when suddenly they found the 
enemy upon them. They had broken through three fines 
of trenches without the Germans firing a shot. The 
surprised regiment did its best to stave off the attack, 
but within an hour, from 750 men there were only 100 
survivors to relate how things had happened. 

I wonder what the result of the meeting of the 
delegates for an armistice to-day will be ? General von 
Winterfeldt and Erzberger went off two days ago. What 
a humifiating errand, and what a curious meeting for 
General von Winterfeldt and Marshal Foch, who some 
short years ago were ultimate friends, as Winterfeldt 
fived for many years in Paris. Every one expects that 
France will take her fill of revenge and make terms as 
hard as she can. Poor Germany is not in a position to 
resist any humiliation ; she is completely exhausted. 
• ••••• 

Amongst other news of the day, some one told me 
that when the Russian Embassy was searched yesterday 
they found a fist of the houses of rich people that they 
intended raiding. Thank God, our name was not amongst 



278 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

them, but we can never know when we may be uncon- 
sciously offending the powers that are to be, or when 
we may come into their black-list. 

My husband, who has just come in from Unter den 
Linden, reports that he saw van-loads of armed soldiers 
being driven towards the Schloss. He was told that the 
Kaiser was expected to return, and that the SociaUsts 
intend seizing the train and taking him prisoner, but 
do not intend to murder him. Prince Heinrich has 
escaped under dramatic circumstances from Kiel. They 
say he has gone to Denmark with Tirpitz, as they are 
both on the list for court-martial and punishment, owing 
to the submarine warfare and the deceptions practised 
by them on the nation regarding it. The Marine-Amt 
here is filled with soldiers, as a raid had been planned. 

The first intimation that people here got of the so- 
called " strike " in Kiel and Hamburg was when the 
Kriegsministerium here rang up the Marine-Amt in 
Kiel, asking for particulars from the Admiralty. They 
were answered by the words, " Hier die Genossen," 
and they vouchsafed the further information that some 
eighty officers were shut up safely and that everything 
was in the hands of the Genossenschaft. One can imagine 
the astonished faces of the chiefs here ! 

Thank goodness, our Jager has just arrived from 
Krieblowitz with fresh food, or we should be badly off 
indeed. He says he took nearly two days to get here, 
as no trains were running, and goodness knows when he 
would have arrived if at Sommerfeld an order had not 
suddenly come that no soldiers were to be allowed to 
come to Berhn for fear of them joining the rioters. So 
they were all tmned out of the train and a few civiUans 
were allowed to take their places instead. 

Berlin, Morning, November 9, 1918. — It is beautiful 
sunny weather, and from my window I can see the people 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 279 

standing about in groups talking and gesticulating 
excitedly. Some of our servants went out to ask them 
if they were going to make a riot, but they answered' 
" No, they were not going to make a disturbance, but as 
the Government could not put an end to the war, they 
meant to show them how to do it." 

Numbers of sailors and soldiers are driving by in 
motor-cars ; they all seem to have nothing much to do. 
We are expecting the armistice conditions every hour ; 
they have already been handed over by Marshal Foch, 
and, as we hear, are to be answered in seventy-two hours. 
The courier has just radio'd from the front that he cannot 
get through the German Unes, as the fire is still continuing. 
They have radio'd back, informing him that the firing 
has been caused by an ammunition depot exploding 
accidentally. So now he will be hurrying towards us 
to bring the important news. 

We have been told that the German Commission arrived 
very late for the meeting with Foch. They were delayed 
by the awful state of the roads, which were nothing but 
large pit-holes caused by shells, so that a sequence of 
punctures had been the result. I hope the conditions will 
be of a nature to quiet the growing agitation of the people, 
and give them some tangible prospect of better things, 
otherwise I fear we shall have our house-tops falling over 
our heads, and perhaps burying us in the debris. 

Berlin, Evening, November 9, 1918. — What a long 
time ago it seems since I wrote these last ominous words ! 
And here we are right in the midst of the tumult of a 
great revolution. After all our expectations, it has in 
reality fallen on us hke a bomb — ^the Kaiser's abdication 
and the revolution. 

Outside there is a seething mass of people constantly 
coming and going. Sinister-looking red flags are waving 
where so short a time ago the black, white, and red were 
hanging, and the dynasty of the Hohenzollems has come 
to a tragic end. Things had in reality grown quieter this 



28o AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

morning, as we had heard that the decision had been 
postponed to Monday, and we had thought we still had 
one or two days of waiting before the dice fell. 

I did not go out, but from my window could see the 
strange-looking loafers hanging about the street ; young 
men, their hands in their pockets, with the hanging bent 
shoulders of those who all too young have had to bear a 
burden too heavy for them. They stood about quietly 
enough, with youthful, serious eyes, as if gazing into a 
future that was to be kinder and better. The faces of 
one or two struck me especially ; one does not see them 
often hereabouts, and their look of patient strength had 
something pathetic in it. Nothing much happened, 
however, until after luncheon. Gebhard and I were 
sitting quietly reading our papers, when at about two 
o'clock a perfect avalanche of humanity began to stream 
by our windows, walking quietly enough, many of them 
carrjdng red flags. I noticed the pale gold of young girls' 
uncovered heads, as they passed by with only a shawl 
over their shoulders. It seemed so feminine and incon- 
gruous, under the folds of those gruesome red banners 
flying over them. One can never imagine these pale 
northern women helping to build up barricades and 
screaming and raging for blood. 

Whilst my thoughts were running in this strain, our 
butler Karl came in to announce that the Kaiser had 
abdicated. Tears came into both our eyes as we grasped 
the momentousness of the hour, and although we have 
both often criticized him, we could not help pitying the 
fallen king in this hour of bitter trial. Just because 
fate placed him in such an exalted position, the faU is 
all the greater, the humiliation harder to bear ; and any 
one living in Prussia, and knowing how the Prussians 
regard the Hohenzollerns as the founders of aU their 
prosperity and good fortune as a nation, will understand 
how many loyal hearts will be cut to the quick at this 
undoing of their king. But it was no time to mourn for 
the individual, and our attention was soon fixed on what 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 281 

was passing outside our windows. There, evidently no 
one sorrowed at the loss of an emperor. There could 
hardly have been a greater air of rejoicing had Germany 
gained a great victory. More and more people came 
hurrying by, thousands of them densely packed together 
— men, women, soldiers, sailors, and strangely enough, a 
never-ceasing fringe oi children plapng on the edges of 
this dangerous maelstrom, and enjoying it seemingly 
very much, as if it had been some pubhc fete-day. 
Although the processions of revolutionists were at first 
orderly enough, one could easily perceive a change in 
the temper of the people as time passed by. The patient, 
phlegmatic expression which covers so much innate 
strength in the Germans gradually changed to a more 
emotional mood ; eyes began to flash, faces became 
flushed, and one had the feehng that it needed but a tiny 
spark to kindle the glowing ashes into a flame. 

In between the dense masses of the marching throng, 
great mUitary motor-lorries, packed with soldiers and 
sailors waving red flags and cheering and shouting vehe- 
mently, forced their way, the occupants apparently trying 
to stir up the strikers to violence. A characteristic 
feature of the mob was the motors packed with youths 
in field-grey imiform or in civil clothes, carrying loaded 
rifles adorned with a tiny red flag, constantly springing 
off their seats and forcing the soldiers and officers to tear 
off their insignia, or doing it for them if they refused. 
They were mostly boys of from 16 to 18 years of age, 
who looked as if they were enjoying their sudden power 
immensely, and sat grinning on the steps of the grey 
motors like schoolboys out on an escapade. This, how- 
ever, did not prevent their occasioning a good deal of 
harm in the course of the day, for of course some officers 
refused to obey them, which led to bloodshed and even 
death ; for these youths did not stop short at violence, 
and, I beheve, any bloodshed that occurred was almost 
entirely due to the unrestrained freedom suddenly placed 
in their hands. 



282 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

I think about 200 of these big lorries must have 
passed by our windows in two hours, and every moment 
the feehng of so many elementary forces being suddenly 
let loose grew more alarming. We, of course, had all 
our iron bUnds pulled down and the doors of the house 
locked, and only kept one window open to be able to see 
what was going on. 

Every moment groups of people collected in front of 
our window, gesticulating and shouting frantically ; and 
to our private dismay, in one waggon-load passing by we 
distinguished French and Russian prisoners amongst the 
Germans, all waving the red flag, their faces glowing with 
delight at the unwonted freedom. We were not a little 
alarmed, for we knew that if the Germans begin frater- 
nizing with the prisoners and liberating them, we may 
at any moment have a dangerous rabble of some two 
milUon Russians let loose on us, who in their underfed 
condition would stop short at nothing. The strangest 
and most disagreeable feeling of all was that nobody 
knew definitely what was happening and what was the 
meaning of it all. Every one seemed to be steering 
for Unter den Linden and Pariser Platz, and as the 
afternoon wore on we heard that an attack was being 
made on the royal castle. The great Brandenburger 
Tor was soon covered with climbers who succeeded in 
hoisting the red flag on it, and in front of the Adlon 
Hotel machine-guns were placed, and the mob went in 
forcing the officers there to tear off their badges. The 
revolutionists robbed the soldiers of their arms, and 
strutted about with them to the constant danger of the 
passers-by. 

At tea-time Baron and Baroness Roeder came in and 
stayed on to dinner, as it was almost impossible for them 
to get back. Dr. Mainzer came too, to offer us the shelter 
of his Khnik, which lies in a garden-house in an un- 
frequented street. If there is danger, we shall go and 
take refuge there. Count Soden, from the Bavarian 
Legation, dropped in as well, and broke down into tears 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 283 

when we attempted to condole with him on the abdication 
of his king, Ludwig of Bavaria. 

Up till now we had only occasionally heard a stray shot 
or two, but during our early dinner at 7.30 news kept on 
coming in that things were growing more and more serious, 
and that a fierce battle was raging in front of the Schloss. 

It is said that the mob are bent on ransacking the 
castle, and have already carried off silver and plate. 
They have looted the royal horses, carriages, and motor- 
cars, and are busy using them, as we have already heard 
the hoot which was until now the signal for the Kaiser's 
appearance on the scene. Of course, we cannot yet 
judge how many of the rumours spreading Uke wildfire 
may be true, for every one has some different story to 
tell. They say that the waterworks which supply 
Charlottenburg have been blown up and half the suburbs 
are without water. 

My husband has just escorted the Roeders back to 
their pension, with the help of our young footman Emil, 
but before they departed some one telephoned down to say 
that it was not advisable for us to spend the night in our 
apartment on the ground-floor, so I have written a note 
to our tenant Excellenz von Derenthall who hves on the 
top floor, asking whether we may sleep there for the night. 
She replied instantly that we should be most welcome. 

On bidding Baroness Roeder good-night, she jokingly 
said she should die of fright if she heard even one gun- 
shot an5rwhere in her neighbourhood. I quite agreed 
with her, but we very soon reaUzed we were to hear many 
more than one. On making arrangements for the night 
with the servants, we have just heard two shots in front 
of our windows in the Tiergarten. Some scared women, 
who tried to get into safety behind our big doors, say 
that two women have been wounded in the Tiergarten 
from rifles going off accidentally in the hands of un- 
practised civiUans. 

Gebhard, who has just returned from accompanying 
the Roeders home, tells me they made friends on the way 



284 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

with a young revolutionary soldier, who escorted them 
as a guard. He says he spoke so quietly and sensibly 
about the situation, saying they did not wish any blood- 
shed at all, but that they had been goaded on by all the 
suffering and misery of the last four years spent in the 
trenches, and now the people meant to put a stop to 
it. God grant that it may go off as he says, and give 
us a peaceful night ! 

I have arranged for all the servants to sleep at the 
back of the house, in case of danger, and we are now 
going up to our new sleeping quarters with the kind old 
Derenthalls. 

Berlin, Sunday Morning, November lo, 1918. — More 
dead than alive, I will try and write down the events and 
impressions of last night, which I shaU never forget. 
After we had all separated for the night, I lay awake, 
very tired. We were constantly disturbed by the sound 
of stray rifle-shots, and the feehng of uncertainty as to 
what was going on out there in the darkness of the huge 
city made sleep impossible. After thus passing inter- 
minable hours, as it seemed, suddenly about two o'clock 
the stillness was broken by the noise of a regular fusillade 
of machine-guns and rifles being fired off — as it seemed — 
over our very heads. Trembling with fear, I rushed into 
the dining-room accompanied by my husband, where we 
found Frau von Derenthall and her two Uttle maid- 
servants already assembled. 

There we sat crouched together in the darkness, for 
we dared not turn on a Hght, hstening to the fierce 
fighting going on all around us from the Bradenburger 
Tor away over to the Reichstag, our rooms being fiUed 
with the fumes and smoke of the guns. Occasionally 
we crept out on to the balcony to try and see what was 
going on, but could only see small groups of soldiers 
all armed, with red flags in their hands, standing round 
the Tor. At the end of an hour the firing died away, 
and Frau von Derenthall suggested we should have a 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 285 

cup of coffee ; and the two maids set to work and made 
us some. We could not help laughing as we sat there 
shivering in our dressing-gowns. Frau von Derenthall 
told us that all last year she had been wishing to ask us 
to dinner, but had not been able to get anything choice 
enough for " the smart Bliichers " for their first meal 
in her house, and had kept on postponing it until the 
right occasion should offer itself ; " and this," she said 
with a smile, " is our first smart meal, sitting huddled 
together in the dark, sipping weak corn-coffee to keep 
up our spirits." Dear old Excellenz von Derenthall slept 
peacefully through all the tumult, being 84 years of age 
and stone deaf. 

At about five o'clock we returned to our apartment, 
where we found that our servants had spent the night 
in very much the same way as ourselves. During the 
whole morning people were telephoning from every part 
of BerHn to know how we had spent the night. It was 
like being in the midst of a beehive alarmed by some 
hostile force. All Berlin seemed to be humming and 
buzzing around us. 

Baron and Baroness Gevers (the Dutch Minister) rang 
us up and begged us to come round to them and spend 
the day, though they regretted not being able to repeat 
their invitation of yesterday to sleep there, for there was 
such a panic amongst all the Dutch in BerUn they were 
all telephoning and asking for protection, and people 
kept arriving every minute. They mentioned that they 
had tried to get Baron and Baroness Roeder to come to 
them, but it was impossible to get through Unter den 
Linden. It was barred off for the people, and firing was 
going on in the Wilhelm Strasse, the Dorotheen- und 
Freidrich Strasse. I begged the Baroness not to worry 
about us, for if things became too hot we intended going 
to Dr. Mainzer's Klinik, far away from the zone of danger, 
in the Winterfeld Strasse. Then Prince and Princess 
Taxis rang us up. She told us it was quiet round their 
way, as the publishing office of Vorwdrts, the great 



286 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Socialist paper, was just opposite their house, and so the 
revolutionists respected their quarter. 

The early part of the morning was fairly quiet. We sat 
in our rooms, the iron blinds down and just one hght 
burning, feehng comparatively easy in our minds. Some 
of the servants had gone out on a tour of exploration, 
and we ourselves heard nothing but a stray rifle-shot 
now and then, which however no longer disturbed my 
equilibrium, for as long as one heard no machine-guns 
one had got to the stage of considering it quiet. 

At twelve o'clock Dr. Mainzer came to inquire how we 
were, and asked if I would hke to come to his Klinik in 
the afternoon and spend the night there, I said that if 
things were going to be as bad as they were last night, 
I should. He and Gebhard were assuring me that all 
would probably be quiet now, and Dr. Mainzer was de- 
scribing how peaceful and orderly the crowds were round 
the Reichstag and in the Tiergarten, when suddenly, as 
if in mockery at his words, a great burst of machine- 
gun firing cut short his sentence. We all rushed to the 
windows, and looking through the cracks in the blinds, 
we saw people hurrjdng in crowds from apparently every 
direction at once. We all ran out into the back court- 
yard, where we found Prince Henckel, his brother. Count 
Krafft, Prince Wedel, and all their households collected. 
They locked and barred all the entrances, as there was 
danger of the mob storming them in their rush for shelter 
from the firing. 

The house was surrounded by dense masses of people, 
and, as the house-porter told us, there was going to be 
a fight between Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag, 
presumably the Red Guard against loyal officers and 
soldiers. The whole street, he said, would soon be closed, 
and so, if we wanted to get away, we had only three 
minutes to do so. We therefore decided to go, and creep- 
ing out through the back entrance and crossing the back- 
yard, we managed to get into the street some distance off 
by going through a little public-house. The crowds in 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 287 

the street were so densely packed that we could hardly 
get through. Every one was frantic with excitement ; 
one man had been killed and some wounded quite near 
our house. From every crossing we saw waggons full of 
soldiers and sailors coming, all armed with rifles and 
hand-grenades, and flying the red flag, whilst every soldier 
we met already wore the red cockade on his cap, which 
looked like a patch of blood over his forehead. It was 
not a morning for timid people. 

We managed to force our way through the throng, 
crawling along in the shelter of the wall for fear of a 
stray bullet, until at Potsdamer Platz we found an empty 
droshky, and after some cogitation as to the advisability 
of taking it, and being abused by the mob as aristocrats, 
I feigned a sudden faintness, and Dr. Mainzer shouted 
out for some one to drive a sick woman to a KUnik. The 
driver consented and the crowd did not object, so we 
hurried in and drove here to this quiet house, which seems 
like a haven of rest after all the tumult and agitation of 
the last hours. 

In the afternoon we were continually rung up by 
different people telling us news of what was going on. 
There are already so many contradictory reports rife that 
I shall wait and see before beUeving them. Every one's 
imagination is running away with them, and anxiety and 
uncertainty are at the bottom of many rumours of violence 
and bloodshed. On the whole I have the feeUng that 
the mood of the people at large is rather like that of a 
goaded, tired wild beast, ready to spring and kill if ex- 
asperated any more, and yet just as ready to be quieted 
and tamed if food be given it. 

Princess Taxis rang us up to say that the new Socialist 
Chancellor, Ebert, the successor of Prince Max of Baden, 
has already threatened to resign as he cannot hold the 
people. I hope this news will be soon contradicted, as 
Ebert, although a Socialist, is an orderly and well-meaning 
man enough, and if he is really forced to make way for 
Liebknecht it would be terrible, for the latter makes no 



288 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

secret of his anarchist intentions. He would let the rabble 
loose at once to fire and plunder our houses. 

Early in the afternoon my maid and Karl telephoned 
to say that shooting had commenced in the neighbour- 
hood, and later on she told us that a regular pitched 
battle was being fought just in front of our house, that 
some one had placed two machine-guns on the roof which 
were firing down on the crowd, who were returning the 
fire from below. Karl Langer, our faithful butler and 
friend, had run up to the top of the house and torn down 
the old flag to try and stop the firing. Prince Henckel 
and his brother. Count Krafft, were, she said, taking an 
active part in the defence. We were all loud in praise of 
her courage at being able to stand and telephone at such 
a critical moment. Later on the wires were cut off for 
the time being. 

At the moment when things seemed to be looking their 
worst. Princess Taxis telephoned that the Entente had 
sent a radio-message from Paris, saying that they would 
make no peace with Bolshevists. Thank God ! That was 
good news indeed, and sent our spirits up with a run. 
It came, too, just at the right moment, and meant the 
momentary reinstatement of Ebert as Kanzler, and renders 
Liebknecht's anarchical plans extremely distasteful to 
the majority of people. People are inchned to look 
upon the enemy for the moment as friends and rescuers 
in the hour of need. 

Towards evening my brave maid Lisa and the Jager 
arrived with clothes for us for the night. They had 
forced their way through the dangers of the excited mob, 
and gave us a vivid description of the " Bliicher Palais " 
battle. I was rather amused to hear that our stalwart 
defenders, the twenty policemen whom we had so much 
counted on to guard us, had been forced to seek shelter 
and protection in our house, where — pale and trembhng 
— they remained hidden a whole day and night, being 
fed by us, until plain clothes had been brought for them 
and they could thus escape in disguise. They were 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 289 

staunch and true men to the Kaiser, and had been very 
much cut up at his fall, and at the surprising turn that 
things have taken. 

I must confess that I myself feel shocked and surprised 
at the universal rejoicing manifested at the abdication of 
the Kaiser. They could not be more jubilant if they had 
won the war. Vox populi, vox dei ! He may deserve his 
fate, but it seems very hard and cruel to throw stones 
at him at such a moment, when he must be enduring 
untold anguish and sorrow. 

Amongst the aristocracy the grief at the breakdown 
of their country, more than at the personal fall of the 
Kaiser, is quite heart-rending to see. I have seen some 
of our friends, strong men, sit down and sob at the news, 
whilst others seemed to shrink to half their size and were 
struck dumb with pain. There are men and women who 
have played an inconspicuous part enough at ordinary 
times, often pushed aside as people of no importance, who 
are now the most faithful to their monarch. But history 
takes no heed of the tears of the individual, and they only 
fall to join and swell the broad stream shed by mankind 
within the last four years, and which, as we hope, is 
carrying us forward to some brighter goal. 

Berlin, Monday, November 11, 1918. — Things seem 
to have calmed down a bit, and one only hears a little 
desultory shooting now and again. We feel that it is 
growing safe once more, and this morning Gebhard went 
off to our apartment, to spend the day there putting 
things in order again. Frau Mainzer and I determined 
to go out together to see what the world looked Uke after 
the deluge of the last two days, and whether there were 
any signs of the waters abating or not. I paid several 
visits, and we all congratulated one another at still being 
ahve, but we are none of us very certain as to what the 
hour may bring forth. Our general impression is that 
the people are much too weak and starved to be really 
bloodthirsty unless goaded on by fanatics Uke Liebknecht 

u 



290 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

and Rosa Luxemburg, and one cannot help admiring the 
disciphned and orderly way in which a revolution of such 
dimensions has been organized, with until now the least 
possible loss of hfe. Truly, a great storm is passing over 
the land, and princes are falling from their thrones Uke 
ripe fruit from a tree, but every one seems to be acting 
under the impulse of a divine law which is leading the 
German nation to a new phase of development. 

I stayed to lunch with Countess Larisch, where I 
found Count Westphalen's little daughter, a child of 13 
years, who is quite the heroine of the moment at present. 
She and her father, who came in later, gave us a descrip- 
tion of the battle at the Schloss on Saturday. Count 
Westphalen is Master of the Horse, and as he told us, he 
was sitting quietly reading in one of the rooms at the 
Schloss, when suddenly there was a great knocking at the 
door. On opening it, he saw the mob standing outside, 
demanding two of the royal motors to take up some 
injured people. Of course, he guessed that this was only 
a fabrication, but agreed to give them two, which, he 
said, were always kept in readiness for all emergencies, 
and saying he would give the order for them to be brought 
out, he went away, closing the door behind him. He 
stayed away, however, longer than they approved of, and 
they began hammering and battering at the door, and on 
the servant sajdng he could not let them in without 
further orders, they smashed a side-window and chmbed 
in, and proceeded to riot and shout through the whole 
castle. One man in particular was extremely insolent in 
his manner to Count Westphalen, airing his views in a 
hectoring violent tone, and he it was who, running up to 
a room at the top of the castle, began firing from one of 
the upper windows. This, of course, was meant to stir up 
the mob below, and in fact caused the whole battle that 
ensued. This method was employed systematically at all 
places where fighting took place, and the- report was then 
spread that it was caused by loyal officers firing down 
into the people. As has been later discovered, there is 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 291 

not a word of tnith in such statements. At the moment 
when the mob broke into the castle there were no officers 
there, and the fight was only caused by Liebknecht's 
agents trying to incite the mob to bloodshed. 

Count Westphalen went on to tell us that the rabble 
had poured into the royal stables, ransacked everything 
there, seized on several motors and horses (some of which 
have been returned), and began exploring the castle, 
carrying off any provisions they could find, and keeping 
him a prisoner locked up in a room until four o'clock the 
next morning. In spite of his remonstrances and en- 
treaties to be at least informed as to the fate of his little 
daughter, he was not allowed to communicate with any 
one, and spent the long hours of the night in the greatest 
state of suspense as to what had become of her. The 
poor child herself went on with the story, and told us 
that on hearing a noise in the passage she had gone out 
to see what it was, and suddenly saw a strange mob of 
people pouring in. Her governess, with whom she had 
been left in charge, immediately lost her head and rushed 
away into the crowd outside, leaving her charge at the 
mercy of the rabble, and was not heard of until the 
morning, when she was told some home-truths by her 
employer. 

The poor little girl had remained trembhng in the hall, 
whilst the mob rushed past her. With the help of a 
faithful old man-servant she then left the house on foot, 
and together they made their way through the crowd and 
walked in the dark for about an hour, until they came to 
the Larisches' house at about eight o'clock in the evening, 
the poor child quite alarmed and worn out with all the 
excitement. 

Countess Larisch told me further that she herself had 
been an eye-witness when the soldiers had seized on the 
machine-guns in the Admiralty and had thrown them 
into the canal. There had been thousands of people 
looking on. It had been a sad and alarming sight, and 
the general feehng amongst those surrounding her had 



292 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

been one of pity that so much good material should be 
wasted in that way. Especially the loss of the leather 
touched people to the quick. " How many pairs of boots 
they could have made for us," was the general remark. 

Evening. — This afternoon our nephew Ludwig Karl 
Strachwitz rang me up from the General Staff. He said 
he was still at his old occupation, but in plain clothes, 
and there were several sailors and soldiers about him, 
apparently entrusted with the task of managing every- 
thing ; but as they themselves admitted they understood 
nothing at all of what was to be done, they begged him 
to continue in authority and go on with the work. It is 
the same everywhere ; in all the rooms at the Foreign 
Office there is a sailor or soldier superintending the work, 
and they say even Ex. Solf has one at his side. It seems 
that they are all respectful enough in business hours, but 
out of them there is no saluting, and they attempt to 
treat their superiors as equals, needless to say not very 
successfully, as old customs and habits cannot be changed 
in one day. 

Berlin, Tuesday, November 12, 1918. — As we heard 
that everything was again quiet round Brandenburger 
Tor, we arranged to return home, and quitted our 
secluded haven of refuge, with heartfelt feelings of grati- 
tude to the Mainzer family for all the kindness and 
hospitality they showed to us as refugees. How strange 
it seems to find everything so quiet and peaceful here, 
after all the noise and excitement of Sunday, when there 
was almost ceaseless fire over and around the house nearly 
the whole day. 

The few people I have already spoken to were depressed 
and horrified at the terms of the armistice, especially that 
the blockade is not to be raised, which means for so many 
people a gradual death from exhaustion. As one English- 
woman said to me, the idea of continuing to exist and 
work on the minimum of food still possible under the 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 293 

circumstances was so dreadful, that she thought it would 
be the most sensible thing to go with her child and try 
to get shot in one of the numerous street-fights ; whilst 
another lady whose husband is at the front, and from 
whom she has heard nothing for a long time, is contem- 
plating turning on the gas on herself and her two small 
children, and putting an end to the horrors of hving. 
A diet of heavy vegetables, cooked without fat of any 
kind, with dry bread and potatoes, is not in the long- 
run consistent with the nerve-power necessary under the 
circumstances. 

We hear Hindenburg has placed his services at the 
disposal of the new Government, so as to help organize 
the demonstration. What a grand old fellow he is, always 
doing his best for his country, and never thrusting himself 
into people's notice. He must be suffering agonies of 
humihation and regret at the turn things are taking, and 
at the terrible blow to Germany's prestige ; and yet he 
will never think of laying down his arms as long as his 
country needs him. He is indeed a genuine patriot. 

So many of the other great men of the past are now 
wandering like hunted wild beasts, roofless and homeless 
in other countries, all power torn from their hands, unable 
to help themselves or other people. The Empress has 
placed herself and all the other women of the royal family 
under the protection of the Red Guards at Potsdam. 

There is still a good deal of desultory shooting going 
on, and several soldiers have been wounded or shot in 
the suburbs whilst guarding the different stores. The 
same system is used everywhere to stir up the people to 
bloodshed. Machine-guns are placed on the roof of a 
house opposite to some assembly hall, and when the people 
gather for a pohtical meeting, they are shot at by the 
hidden gunners on the roof, and the soldiers immediately 
return the shots. 

From a young soldier who has just entered on his military 
service and was called up to help guard the royal castle 



294 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

at the beginning of the riots I heard a dramatic account 
of what took place. He told me how they had been 
hidden in the cellars some days before the demonstration 
began, and knew little of what was going on outside, so 
that the shock and surprise were great when suddenly 
the doors were burst open, and a revolutionist, a member 
of ParUament, entered and told them that the German 
Empire had ceased and a Repubhc had taken its place. 
With tears in his eyes, he said, he had taken off his 
badges and thrown them where the others lay in a heap 
on the flagstones, and then they were free to return to 
their barracks. With a thrill of indignation he saw how 
the mob rushed into the castle, and a few minutes later 
the Prussian flag was hauled down and the long red 
revolutionary standard waved over the place where the 
Hohenzollerns have housed for so many centuries. Out 
of the great gateway a rider dashed on horseback, waving 
likewise a red flag, and at the same moment one of the 
windows opened on to a balcony in front of the castle, 
and on the same spot where four and a half years ago 
the Kaiser made his great appeal to the enthusiastic 
people, Liebknecht appeared, shouting to the masses 
that they were now freed of the bondages of the past, 
and that a new era of hberty was opening out before 
them. History repeats, or rather mimics herself in a 
somewhat tasteless way at times. StiU the episode is 
not without interest to the impartial looker-on. 

The young soldiers themselves had a hard fight to get 
through the mob, who in some way seemed to make them 
responsible for the misdoings of the royal house they 
had been guarding, and ill-treated them accordingly, 
buffeting them and spitting on them, and even throwing 
some of them into the Spree. 

Berlin, November 13, 1918. — It is late, but I cannot 
sleep ; my nerves are still vibrating with the excitement 
of the last few days, and brain and heart are filled to 
overflowing at the thought of the momentous things 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 295 

which are happening in the world. We dined at the 
L.'s, where, although we were a very cosmopolitan party, 
we were all more or less affected at the terrible outlook 
for Germany. A late moon was still shining brightly 
as we made our way home on foot. The streets are very 
quiet now, and the few passers-by hurry along, almost 
afraid of one another, and avoid the shadows, for no one 
knows who or what may be lurking there. Before every 
important public building sentries are posted, and in 
front of the Brandenburger Tor, with its grotesque blue- 
black shadow of the galloping horses and the car of 
victory, I can see them pacing up and down. 

An atmosphere of exhaustion rather than of peace 
pervades the places where so much tumult and confusion 
raged but a short time ago. A rising wind is beginning 
to moan sadly through the Tiergarten, tossing the bare 
branches of the trees dejectedly, and bringing in its train 
great masses of dark clouds, which to my excited imagina- 
tion look like armies in mournful retreat, moving as if 
in rhythm to the funeral dirge of the melancholy autumn 
wind. 

I never felt so deeply for the German people as I do 
now, when I see them bravely and persistently trying to 
redress the wrongs of the war, for which they were in 
truth never responsible. The greater part of them were 
men fighting blindly to guard an ideal, the " Heimat," 
some patch of mother earth, a small cottage half hidden 
in its sheltering fruit trees, ploughed fields rising on the 
slope of a hill up to the dark forest of pines, maybe, or 
a wide stretch of flat country where the golden corn-fields 
sway and wave in the wind as far as the eye can reach. 

This everything, that meant " home " to them, they 
were told was in danger, and this they went out to save. 
I feel that in the past I have sometimes misjudged this 
people, torn by the conflicting feehngs of love and ad- 
miration for my own native land, and indignation at the 
brutal methods of warfare employed here, and the mental 



296 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

suffering and agony I endured myself in the first years 
especially. But now I feel that a spirit of justice and 
good feeUng is the only power that can ever heal the 
hideous gaping wounds of the nations, and it was in this 
frame of mind that I began talking to an old friend of 

ours this evening, Graf K , a man who has seen much 

of the world and is a German of the best type. Of course, 
he is feeUng very embittered now, but I will try and 
remember what he said and write it down as a " defence " 
of the German people. 

There were three or four of us talking, and each had 
some criticism to make of the Germans as compared 
with other nationalities. I had made the remark that 
German women are as a rule more highly educated than 
Enghsh, but were wanting in a sense of humour and 
romance, and somewhat dull with all their learning, 
when Graf K intervened : 

" I've been listening to j^our discussion, and with due 
deference to all your opinions, I must confess that, like 
most foreigners, you are utterly superficial in your judg- 
ment of us. Well, you've thrown down the gauntlet, 
and I'll pick it up, 

" Does any one of you really know the German 
people ? BerHn, for example, can hardly even be called 
a German town, so httle does it represent Germany. 
And yet you come here, you Enghsh especially, consort 
with your own countrymen, read your own books, speak 
your own language, and maltreat ours just enough for 
every day's most common needs, and then think you 
know us. With the exception of music, what do you 
know of our art, our hterature, which is the expression 
of our soul ? Why, I know Enghsh women who have 
been living here for nearly twenty years, and never even 
read a German paper, much less a book, and can hardly 
phrase a single sentence of our language correctly. And 
yet they return to England to boast of their intimate 
and exhaustive knowledge of the German psyche. You 
condemn us for our want of humour ; but it is you who 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 297 

don't know enough of our language to understand the 
rich stock of humour of our race. You know nothing 
of Jean Paul, of Renter, the platt-deutsch humorist, or 
of Raabe, who is in his way the German Dickens. 

" As for our wanting in romance, why, we are mostly 
born and bred in it, steeped in it from the cradle to the 
grave. It was our school of romantic poets who awoke 
an echo in aU Europe, not least in England, and inspired 
some of the greatest musicians of the world. Certainly, 
our people have not the craving for the sensational that 
you Enghsh have, but I think that may be regarded as 
almost in our favour on the whole. 

" For the rest, you understand us just as httle as we 
do you. We are au fond a nation of peasants, tillers of 
the soil in the larger sense of the word, and therefore 
more intimately in touch with mother earth than you 
Enghsh, and we have the faults and virtues of the toilers 
of the fields. In the same way as your httle country, 
the England proper of to-day, presents the appearance 
of a landscape tamed down to pleasure grounds or a 
well-kept park, so the centuries of undisturbed culture 
and the long era of prosperous industry and commerce 
have done their best to ehminate all traces of primitive 
man in you. You are the product of an artificial culture ; 
we are much more the product of Nature. It is only in 
Scotland or the West of Ireland that you can find anything 
approaching the untouched virginity of our vast sandy 
plains, where the wind can rush at its own free will, 
whirling the snowstorms from the east, or of the grim 
twihght of our great pine woods, the birthplace of half 
the legends and fairy-lore of Europe, or the solemn beauty 
of our lofty snow-topped mountains, where man can be 
so utterly alone with God. 

" You often call us brutal, but I take it we are strong 
and simple. It is from Nature that we have borrowed 
our rugged strength of character, and just as she is not 
always merciful but wild and callous and cruel, we at 
times too have grown hard in our struggle with her. 



298 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

" The genius of our race is derived from the soil we 
have hved on. We are philosophers and artists, talents 
born in intercourse with Nature, but we are bad diplomats 
and politicians, quahties born of intercourse with mankind. 
We possess the shrewdness of the peasant, and not the 
cunning of the man of the world ; and just as our bodies 
are more expressive of strength and dogged will, and look 
better in our own national costumes than in the dainty 
creations of Parisian ateliers, so our souls have not been 
trained to express our thoughts and feehngs with those 
finer reservations that you call tact, and we a lack of 
straightforwardness. But given we are brutal and 
aggressive under circumstances, we are at the same time 
big and heroic, and our ideal men and women are the 
Siegfrieds and Brunhilds of the Nibelungenlied, figures 
that represent the primeval passions of mankind. 

" We are often called narrow-minded, pedantic, and 
petty. People forget we have always been forced to 
turn our gaze inwards and concentrate our attention on 
ourselves and our mental development. We could not 
expand like the Enghsh, who have gained their broad- 
minded generosity, which we admire so much, chiefly 
from the fact that their inward gaze was set on far-off 
goals in other continents. 

" Above all, we are fighters. Without any natural 
boundaries on the east or the west, there were always 
greedy neighbours anxious to invade us. But as we 
threw off the yoke of the Romans, the Huns, the French 
and ever again the French, we shall no doubt fight our 
way to a place in the sun again, despite the hordes 
collected to prevent us." 

" You wish," said I, " to imply that we English are 
not inspired by Nature in our actions or manner of life ? " 

" I think," was his answer, " that the Enghsh of to-day 
are more the result of the civiUzation of towns than other- 
wise. For the rest, I have not attempted to analyse 
their mentahty more closely. I chiefly wished to point 
out the chief source of those fundamental quahties which 



BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1918 299 

characterize the German people, and which are so seldom 
recognized by the casual observer who writes those 
volumes of superficial trash for the benefit of credulous 
readers. I beheve if the nations understood one another 
better there really might be no more wars." 

This is about the substance of what Graf K said 

this evening. I suppose there is a good deal of truth 
in it, and that we Enghsh are too inchned to expect the 
same quaUties in other nations which we are accustomed 
to in ourselves, forgetting that chmate and geographical 
position are so important in the forming of a national 
character. 

Berlin, November 14, 1918. — I shall perhaps write 
little more now in my diary. The war is practically over, 
and so to all intents is the social revolution. Every one 
seems to be astonished at the quiet, unenthusiastic way 
in which the latter has gone off. I even heard one man 
deplore its orderhness from a poetic point of view. He 
said there was nothing inspiring in it for the poet or 
painter, no great passions let loose. It was simply a 
matter-of-fact, well -organized strike based on purely 
materiahstic grounds. 

I was myself astonished at the calm phlegm of the 
crowd, which just stood out of range and watched the 
shooting as if they were at a race-meeting. At the same 
time, the state of things here is not encouraging, and 
acquaintances are telUng us to get away from Berhn as 
soon as possible. Two camps have been formed amongst 
the SociaHsts, the Ebert moderate party and the Lieb- 
knecht faction, and fierce fighting is expected soon 
amongst the soldiers and sailors in the streets. Moreover, 
there is a universal dread of plunder in the private houses. 

Many people who still cling to the old regime are 
fleeing across the frontiers to neutral countries ; and 
to-day, on bidding farewell to an official who is fl5dng 
for his hfe, I asked him if he thought the people were to 
blame for all the misery that has come upon Germany. 



300 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

He answered in the negative, saying they were only 
suffering from the long series of political errors committed 
since the Bismarck era. From the time of his dismissal 
one fatal mistake after the other has been made, and it is 
a wonder that the nation has borne with the perpetrators 
so long. The Kaiser's longing for a fleet to vie with 
the English, backed up by Tirpitz, whom Kiihlmann 
calls the " father of Ues," is responsible for the great 
spht between England and Germany, and war was the 
inevitable result. 

We have determined to leave Berlin in a few days, 
to go and look after our home at Krieblowitz, as things 
are said to be none too quiet in the neighbourhood of 
Breslau. 

Krieblowitz, November i6, 1918, — After an interesting 
but crowded journey, we are glad to find ourselves in 
the peace and quiet of the country again. The whole 
episode of the revolution seems like a fantastic dream. 

Our train was crammed full of soldiers and sailors 
returning home from the front, and even though we went 
to the starting-place, the Charlottenburg Station, we found 
it already overfilled. The men swarmed in through the 
windows, climbing over the roof of the carriage to do so, 
and got in in every possible way they could think of, 
entry through the doors being quite impossible. Gebhard 
and all the rest of the household had to sit on their luggage 
in the corridors all the way to Breslau, whilst I managed 
to get a seat in a third-class carriage together with fourteen 
soldiers and sailors. They were rough working-men, 
but were kindness and consideration itself to me. They 
looked after my comfort in every way, and insisted on 
keeping all the doors and windows closed for fear of my 
catching cold. The atmosphere was indescribable, but 
I did not want to hurt their feehngs by suggesting that 
a fresh air treatment suited me best. 

I was interested in listening to their conversation, 
which I overheard by feigning to be asleep. 



KRIEBLOWITZ, NOVEMBER 1918 301 

One sailor, who had come straight from the riots at 
Kiel, told ghastly stories of the bloodshed there, and of 
the men's grievances against the officers, and against 
the Kaiser and the Crown Prince. They all jeered at the 
Crown Prince playing the hero by sticking to his army. 
" A bit late it was," they said, " his becoming brave now." 
They also criticized the Kaiser's flight to Holland, saying 
that although he and his son both deserved to be shot, 
they would not have injured them if they had trusted 
the people and remained to face the crisis. 

I could not help smiling when they began comparing 
notes as to who had learnt most English during the four 
years they had spent opposite to the British at the front, 
and from their conversation with the prisoners. Each 
of them produced a few words, and one man, after 
describing his friendship for an English soldier who had 
been a prisoner for three years, said that last Sunday, 
when the prisoner was set free, he went about the streets 
shouting, " Kamerad kaput," being the only words he 
had learnt all these years, and meaning to convey the 
fact " My friend, you are beaten." 

They were all very cheerful, those soldier- and sailor- 
companions of mine, and often emphasized that they had 
gained what they had been fighting for, " Freiheit und 
Gleichheit," and that the German army had not been 
driven out of France and Belgium, but had been with- 
drawn after the armistice had been declared. 

It was a great comfort to hear these men accepting 
the situation in this spirit, and one of the chief things 
that have struck me since the revolution is the universal 
rehef that the iron clutch of militarism has been loosened 
for ever, and that there is so little feeUng of rancour 
or bitterness towards the enemy. Even Excellenz Solf 
owned to my husband that it would be a great relief to 
him if the Entente should send troops as soon as possible 
to help to keep peace. 

Quiet and order are only a question of food, and every 
one is admiring the clever way Dr. Solf has worded his 



302 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

negotiation to Wilson, making it appear as if food were 
guaranteed should quiet and orderliness prevail here. 

Krieblowitz, December 1918. — Slowly the year is 
drawing to its close, and gradually, very gradually, I am 
beginning to comprehend that the war with its orgy of 
death and slaughter has come to an end. It is especially 
hard to realize, because the difficulties of every-day life 
are almost greater now than they were before — or seem 
so. The whole economic organization of Germany has 
crumbled away before our eyes, and no new system has 
as yet been formed in its place. The revolution, in fact, 
came too suddenly, even for the Socialists themselves, 
and what ought to have evolved from a natural course 
of events was prematurely hurled at us by the unexpected 
insurrection of the sailors in Kiel and Hamburg. There- 
fore the Socialists have not had time to develop a really 
strong Government, or to test the practical working of 
theories in a country which is still at heart for the greater 
part monarchical in its sympathies. 

I believe myself that the German people in reality 
need something for their imagination — a figure-head that 
represents in some way the phantastic, the unusual, the 
ideal. There is no poetry in the figure of a short stout 
President, with a bald head, a top-hat, and a black coat. 
All the old fairy tales begin in the same way : " Es war 
einmal ein Konig ! " and the Olympic figure with the clank- 
ing sword, the golden crown, and the purple mantle will 
be sadly f aihng in the history of the future ; and all 
romance will be banished from those beautiful stately old 
castles on their rocky summits, which we find aU over 
the country, when they have been turned into some state- 
edifice to meet the painfully prosaic needs of to-day. 

It was the long period of inactivity which led to the 
Kiel mutiny. The men had no outlet for their energies 
but to brood over grievances and grumble about their 
ofiicers, and when, after the defection of Austria and 



KRIEBLOWITZ, DECEMBER 1918 303 

Bulgaria, these officers wished to make a last desperate 
attack on the British Fleet, the men refused to put to sea 

This brooding spirit of revolt amongst the sailors has 
been classically expressed in a play called The Sea Fight, 
by Rich. Goering, one of the most talented of the school 
of young German poets now coming so much to the fore. 
But in the drama, a great battle comes at the critical 
moment, as the " befreeing " deed which leads the men's 
virile energy into another direction than that of active 
mutiny. 

Germany's chief danger at the moment is her lack of a 
central strong Government to negotiate with the Entente, 
and to take the lead in the land. Instead of one there is 
a whole series of governments, and no end to the bicker- 
ings and jealousies between the different states, which 
are all aiming at reducing the power of Berhn. At the 
moment the proletariat are in possession of power, which 
they are using to enrich themselves as speedily as possible 
at the cost of the nation. I hear, if things go on as they 
are, the State will be bankrupt in a fortnight. 

In Berhn the soldiers and workmen are disturbing all 
the existing law and order, dismissing the local boards 
without creating any new ones to take their place. Armed 
deserters and rowdies force the authorities to resign office 
at the point of their bayonets. Pubhc and private 
food supphes are plundered and confiscated by bands of 
individuals, who terrorize over the unarmed civilians. 
Strikes are weakening and endangering the Httle Ufe that 
is left in the land, and the enormous and disproportionate 
wages being lavished on the working people bid fair to 
paralyse aU industry and trade. There are miUions of 
people out of work, and yet ever3rthing is at stagnation 
point. 

The nation at large is economically demoraUzed and 
corrupted by the organizations of miUtarism. The high 
wages paid for the most elementary work connected with 
the war has so ruined the labouring classes morally, that 
no one wiU work for any but an abnormal price, whilst 



304 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

domestic servants and charwomen are hardly to be had 
at all in the towns. 

Another problem is what is to become of all the active 
officers who are being dismissed, and who in civil Ufe 
have learnt nothing at all ? Germany, with no power to 
expand, and morally blockaded by the rest of the world 
for years to come, offers but a disconsolate future for 
young men, however enterprising they may be. The 
French ideal, " I'esclavage allemand," seems the only 
possible solution, if the Entente insist on the conditions 
they are proposing. 

Little miseries which seemed but pin-pricks a short 
time ago are gradually gaining in intensity, until they 
feel almost Uke poisonous darts. For years people have 
been strugghng along, supporting as best they could the 
absence of everything conducive to a decent existence, 
but now it is almost impossible to bear it any longer. 
The ancient boots and shoes defy any more mending, the 
stockings consist of a series of variegated patches, dresses 
and mantles have been turned and dyed year after year, 
and most people's underwear has no recognizable re- 
semblance to the dainty garments of pre-war times. They 
are of a nameless hue, and look as if they had been fished 
out of some forgotten patch-bag. As there is no soap, 
our linen issues from the wash-tub greyer and more hope- 
lessly torn than we ever dared imagine, and certainly the 
German woman of to-day is the worst clad in all Europe. 

It is a sorry outlook for Christmas, and not even the 
children will be able to indulge in any of the Uttle luxuries 
which the " Weihnachtsmann " usually left at their door. 

I have had a letter from BerUn describing the festive 
entry of the returning troops. " It was not the triumph- 
ant procession we dreamt of formerly, but it is unique 
and striking in its way. Every one had done their best 
to give a brave appearance to their houses ; flags were 
flying, carpets hanging from every balcony, house-doors 
were wreathed with green garlands, with the homely 



KRIEBLOWITZ, DECEMBER 1918 305 

' Herzlich willkommen ' beaming a welcome in red letters 
on a white ground. The men wore green laurel wreaths 
over their steel helmets, each rifle bore its Uttle spray of 
flowers, the machine-guns were garlanded with green 
branches, and children waving gaily-coloured flags sat by 
the side of them, and many of the soldiers had a child or 
a sweetheart riding pillion in front of him on his flower- 
wreathed horse. 

" A feehng of confidence, of fresh hope in the future, 
seems to have returned with the troops, who responded 
to the ovations with the buoyant seriousness of men who, 
after seeing death so near, are not afraid of hfe. The 
streets are so crowded and overflowing with men that I 
am beginning to wonder how long it wiU be before these 
reserves of latent energy will break forth and find a 
channel for themselves if not speedily used to some good 
purpose. 

" A new feature in BerUn is the number of beggars one 
now sees ever3rwhere. All the blind, the halt, and the 
lame of Prussia seem to have collected here and are reap- 
ing a golden harvest. Daily the traffic is stopped by the 
demonstrations and counter-demonstrations which are the 
order of the day. Even the children are beginning them, 
and the opposing parties often meet and pass one another 
in the same streets, whilst the soldiers set out to keep 
order on their own responsibility. The results are street- 
frays Hke the one on the evening of December 6, when 
fourteen innocent men and women were killed. To-day 
none of us can teU how soon we may be sleeping at the 
side of the little pale 17-year-old milliner's girl, who was 
shot on her way home, in the green shady groves of the 
burial ground where the victims of the March Revolution 
of 1848 are buried. 

" Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg are the people of 
the hour — archangels or archdevils, as the case may be. 
They have caught the imagination of the people, and are 
powers we must certainly reckon with. Every day nearly 
some new ' Extrablatt ' appears : ' A thousand marks on 

X 



3o6 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

Liebknecht's head ! ' ' Liebknecht outlawed ! ' 'A hun- 
dred thousand marks for Liebknecht's corpse ! ' This is, 
of course, oil to the flames of his popularity, and is raising 
a fanatical dreamer to the Olympian heights of heroism. 
He is, at the same time, the bogy for frightening children to 
bed and the fearless hero with the halo of martyrdom al- 
ready shining round his pale face. We are all very unclear 
as to what exactly he wants, and perhaps the commander 
of a regiment here is acting in the most sensible manner 
by inviting him to come and address his men publicly." 

And now the great feast of Peace is at the door, and 
already the Christ-Child is beckoning from the lowly 
cradle in Bethlehem. Like the great star, the vision of 
universal love and charity hovers before our longing gaze, 
unattainable, unreachable as ever to those wanderers 
from the East. 

Men's hearts are still filled with the lust of hate, ambi- 
tion, and revenge. There are no eyes to see the angel hosts, 
no ears to hear their rapturous call in the silent star-filled 
Christ-night : " Peace on earth — good will among men ! " 

May the New Year bring us better things ! 

Krieblowitz, January 1919. — I am delighted to hear 
that all Germans agree in their praise of the English 
manner of behaviour in the occupied towns on the Rhine, 
whilst there are many complaints of the regulations and 
restrictions, and the disagreeable conduct of the French 
and Belgians. Every one praises the kind and dignified 
manner of the Enghsh towards the inhabitants. Many, 
I believe, wish in their inmost hearts that these troops 
would come marching down Unter den Linden, and 
believe that it would put an end to all the present turmoil. 
Possibly they might have done it if the Germans in their 
retreat had not destroyed the bridges and the transport. 
It would have made all the difference in the world to the 
future peace of Europe. 

Hatred of the enemy seems now to have disappeared. 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JANUARY 1919 307 

Indeed many people are inclined to look upon them as 
their saviours and protectors, and in their fear of the 
reign of terror which may be coming I believe would 
be glad if the Entente would send an army to Berlin. 

By the way, the three Enghsh officers who have been 
sent on the Red Cross Commission to Berlin are making 
a great stir with their smart appearance ; every one is 
admiring them immensely. 

It is, after all, the royalties who are perhaps most to 
be pitied now. Often without ready money, no roof to 
their heads, and no food-cards, they are dispersed all over 
Germany, afraid of making themselves known for fear of 
the mob, and not accustomed to look after themselves in 
any way. 

The fate of the HohenzoUerns can be read daily in the 
papers, but that of the Saxon royal family is the one 
which fills us with the greatest sympathy. The Crown 
Prince is at present Uving in two small rooms in Breslau. 
He has no money, and as he is living under an assumed 
name he cannot enter himself on the bread-commission, 
and has therefore no cards for provisions. A friend of 
ours, a lady, takes him his dinner in a basket under her 
arm every day. We are now going to supply him from 
here, but no one may know it, or we should be blamed 
for feeding princes whilst the poor are starving. The 
King of Saxony possesses a beautiful castle in the midst 
of a forest in Silesia, called SybiUenort. He has taken 
refuge there now, but as it was always kept as a show- 
place, and only used for two or three weeks' hunting 
occasionally, it is not fitted up with any ordinary com- 
forts. There is no electric light, no heating, nothing for 
the winter, so that he is obUged to leave it now, and is 
looking out for a small place in the mountains. We have 
offered him Krieblowitz for the time being. 

They will have no money until things are more settled, 
for the Saxon Government has sequestered their private 
property. On leaving Dresden, the royal family took 



3o8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

some food with them, but the mob took it away from 
them at the station. 

Officers returning from the front tell terrible tales of 
the mutinous condition of the soldiers. They seem to be 
filled with the one idea of revenging themselves for the 
misery of the last four years on their helpless superiors. 
Their behaviour is often grossly brutal. One can see the 
freed slave does not know how to use his freedom. Our 
nephews Strachwitz have just returned, after taking ten 
days to travel from Belgium here. Norbert, who was 
badly wounded, was twice turned out of the train because 
he was an officer, and on his attempting to enter a train 
again was shot at by German soldiers. At last, one 
kind-hearted man picked him up and pitched him into 
a cattle-truck. He travelled in this manner for five days, 
without his wounds being dressed, and living on mere 
bread and water. Dominik had to defend himself against 
30 soldiers, and just had time to get into a train before 
they bayoneted him. 

These are but two of countless stories. Some nurses 
returning home with a train full of wounded men said it 
had taken them ten days to get back from St. Quentin, 
as the engine-driver stopped the train every few hours, 
and came and collected clothes, shoes, etc., from them 
before going on farther, and in the end charged so much 
a mile, and had to be begged and entreated before pro- 
ceeding at all. 

All the high officers have disappeared from the face of 
the earth, as bands of soldiers are going from one house 
to the other to arrest them. Thus in Berlin, a warning 
was sent to the family of General von Beseler, saying 
that he had better disappear as danger was brewing ; and 
hardly had he got away when a detachment of soldiers 
armed with rifles and a machine-gun suddenly appeared 
at his house and demanded him to be handed out to them. 
They only left the place on being assured that he was 
still in Warsaw. 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JANUARY 1919 309 

Brandenburg is said to be a hell on earth. An of&cer 
told me that he could only get a plate with a few mush- 
rooms for dinner at the price of Mk. 25, whilst his servant 
was given a big dish of meat and potatoes and vegetables ; 
and the soldiers often attack and beat an unpopular 
officer. I have heard of some old Generals who have 
committed suicide at the present state of things. 

As regards the Empress, one hears much praise of the 
way she worked throughout the war to try and heal the 
wounds caused by it until the last moment almost, when 
she was struck down by the sight of the awful doom 
awaiting her country and her own house. But one wonders 
how she could have continued so bhnd to the real state 
of affairs. She had not an idea that the abdication of 
her husband could really come about, and as she forbade 
a single word of pohtics to be discussed at meals, she had 
no means of " feehng the pulse of the people," or getting 
to know their views or their grievances. For instance, 
three weeks before the revolution, she was visiting a 
hospital in Brandenburg, and stopped and spoke to a poor 
wounded soldier who was frightfully mutilated, having 
lost both legs and an arm, and she said to him how sorry 
she was to see him thus, and had he any wish she could 
gratify to help him. The soldier said : " Do you want to 
know what my greatest wish in the world now is, and 
will you do your best to gratify it ? It is that you will 
send one of your six sons out and that he shall get 
mutilated in the same way as I am. Then the soldiers 
would know you are genuine in your offers." 

And at the Bhndenheim, on another occasion, she went 
round distributing roses to the blind men. One man 
handed them back to her and said : "I don't want your 
roses ; give me back my eyes ! " 

Krieblowitz, January 1919. — We are bidding fare- 
well to Krieblowitz, for I wonder how long! I feel a 
pang at leaving the place and the people ; one becomes 



3IO AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

so attached to those one has lived among during times of 
suffering and suspense, and these people have endeared 
themselves to me by their patient, silent acceptance of 
the inevitable. 

I feel a pang also at taking my husband away from 
them ; they look upon him so much as their father to 
come to in all troubles and difficulties, and he has endeared 
himself to them lately by the way he has tried to find 
employment for the many youths returning from the 
front. He has had timber cut down and ponds filled 
up ; in fact he instantly put on a hundred or more men, 
provided them with food, and gave them high wages. 
This saved the situation, and there has been no real 
plundering or discontent in our district, 

I have at last been able to receive a letter from my 
mother, hoping to see me again at some not too indefinite 
period ; and we are putting every wheel in motion to 
try and fulfil her desire. 

I almost feel as if we shall never again be allowed to 
find an abiding place where we can settle down and be at 
rest. Four and a half years ago, in that memorable 
August of 1914, we had to hurry away, leave our London 
house, and pack up at a moment's notice and flee, because 
we were Germans. Now, once more, we have to flee 
from Krieblowitz, as there is danger of an invasion of 
the Poles, who are said to be on the march into Upper 
Silesia, and the miners are threatening to plunder the 
big houses in the neighbourhood should their rations 
run out. 

At the same time we must either let or lend our apart- 
ment in Berlin, as aU empty ones are to be occupied 
either by soldiers or homeless people ; and, worse still, 
should Liebknecht get the upper hand, they will certainly 
begin their regime by plundering the big private houses. 
It is a pleasant look-out in any case, and so we think it 
better to shoulder our baggage and wander once more. 

We hope to be in Berlin on January 8, and intend 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JANUARY 1919 311 

asking Sir R. Ewart to dine with us. I think that the 
moment we have an English General sitting at the same 
table, and see the English officers strolhng down Unter 
den Linden, we shall really begin to feel that England is 
not so very far away after all ! 

I hope, too, to see some of my best friends once more 
before leaving Berlin indefinitely, and shall be especially 
glad to see, among others, for the last time probably, 
Madame Polo, the Spanish Ambassadress, and then Count 
and Countess Larisch, Count and Countess Moltke, 
Madame Rizoff, and Baronin Essen, the wife of the 
Swedish Minister, who was the kindest hostess possible 
when we took refuge in her house after being driven out 
of our own for the second time by machine-guns on the 
third day of the revolution. 

There are five ladies, all of them Austrian by birth, 
who, even at times when the fever of international hatred 
was at its highest point, never behaved otherwise than 
tactfully and kindly towards me. These are Countess 
M. Larisch, Countess M. Tattenbach, and the three ladies 
known as the Kinsky sisters. Countess Henckel, Countess 
Clary, and Princess Lowenstein. Never by word or sign 
did they say anything to hurt my Enghsh feehngs, and 
when I was in sorrow and their world was rejoicing, they 
would leave their family circle and come and spend a few 
minutes with me, condoling and S5rmpathizing with me 
in my grief, anxiety, or suspense. These are things one 
likes now to remember. 

Krieblowitz, January 15, 1919. — We actually had a 
visit here from some of the Enghsh officers now in Berlin, 
an event worthy of special record. Among them was a 
Lieutenant M , who had been sent to help in re- 
patriating the Enghsh prisoners. He told us of the in- 
describable state of things in Berhn. They had been 
obliged to transfer their quarters from the Adlon Hotel, 
which was anything but safe, to the Esplanade, which is 
not in quite such an exposed position. General Ewart 



312 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

and his staff had been obhged to do all their work in their 
rooms, as they could no longer go to the Embassy in the 
Wilhelm Strasse. Owing to the waiters' strike they had 
to take all their meals in their rooms. He gave me a 
graphic description of the scenes in the streets during the 
Spartacus " Putsch." There were machine-guns at every 
corner, and more than once the people in the street 
threatened to shoot him, and one day smashed the window 
of the taxi he was in with a hand-grenade. He witnessed 
himself no less than three murders in the streets. One 
woman, a superior middle-class person, was deliberately 
torn limb from hmb before his eyes, because when the mob 

shouted out " Vote for X ," she said, " No, don't." 

The lack of food, the high prices, the universal demoraliza- 
tion amongst the German people is the best soil possible 
for the spread of Bolshevism, which is like a poisonous 
fungus born of diseased matter. Germany is now Uke a 
man sick unto death, mortification is setting in, and 
other nations coming in touch with her will be infected 
in the same way. The people have not only been dis- 
illusioned in their old ideals and seen the fall of all their 
own gods, but they see too that the ancient code of 
Might over Right is just as potent in the enemy now as 
it was before amongst their own leaders. 

In the prevailing disorder, Spartacus reigns supreme, 
and as the Government have not as yet gained the upper 
hand over the " freed slaves," the streets are often stained 
with blood, and even corpses may be seen l5^ng on the 
pavement where some struggle has taken place. Our 
house is in the most dangerous position of aU, and is at 
present filled with Government troops, who use it as a 
stronghold from which to shoot at the rebels. The method 
in this madness is the wish of the Spartacus group to 
prevent the National Assembly being constituted and to 
introduce the Commune, or dictatorship of the proletariat. 
Rosa Luxemburg and Liebknecht are still at large, 
although a high price has been set on their heads and 
there are men enough willing to shoot them. People are 



KRIEBLOWITZ. JANUARY 1919 313 

growing so accustomed to the nightly shooting that I 
have heard friends saying they cannot sleep if it ceases 
for a night ! When there is no fighting going on in the 
streets, there are always crowds of agitated people swayed 
here and there by the excitement of the moment. 

Political agents scream and shout to the Ustening 
crowds, and woe to him who dare oppose the popular 
opinion of the moment. He may be lynched on the 
spot, or at best be scuffled off into some neighbouring 
house and saved by the skin of his teeth. 

Motor-cars dash through the streets, their inmates 
scattering thousands of white leaflets, " vote for this or 
that man," whilst clouds of them come flying down from 
the blue sky where, high above the noise and discord of 
the streets, a flyer is skimming like some great white 
bird. Berhn, the cleanest and most orderly of European 
towns, is now the most disorderly, and a perfect bedlam 
into the bargain. It is all very tragical, but as I have 
said before, food will mend everything. A few days ago 
the man-servant of the Saxon royal family came down 
to Krieblowitz to cater for food for some of its members, 
who are now settled in their house in Breslau. He told 
us that, owing to their having no connections with the 
tradespeople in Breslau, they would have absolutely 
starved if we had not been able to help them out with 
food. We were very glad to be able to send them some 
things — a goose, fifty eggs, vegetables, butter and milk, 
etc. The letter of gratitude which we received from the 
family itself was most pathetic. It is almost incon- 
ceivable that in a few short weeks such people should be 
reduced to such a condition as they are. The man- 
servant, who is one of the good old-fashioned retainers of 
royal households, such as one reads of in story-books, 
told us of the royal family's flight from Dresden on the 
day of the revolution. The day before they had the 
intimation that an attempt on their lives was being 
planned. They, however, took no further notice of it, 
until on the following day a certain Herr von N came 



314 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

with a list of people who were to be murdered next day, 
and their names were amongst them. Within a few 
moments the family had made up their minds to fly, and 
preparations were commenced in all haste. They deter- 
mined not all to flee together, but to depart separately 
and by different doors. Thus the King, Prince Joachim 
Georg and his wife, the Crown Prince, his brother and 
sisters all went different ways, and the account we heard 
was that of the fhght of Prince Joachim Georg and his 
wife. For five days they wandered about on foot, taking 
refuge and hiding in different friends' houses. They had 
to cross ploughed fields, scramble over hedges and ditches, 
until at last, after spending a day with our cousins, 
Count and Countess Schall, they were smuggled into a 
train at a small village station, and thus reached Breslau 
quite incognito. The man-servant himself told us how, 
dressed in Red Cross uniform and accompanied by two 
Russian prisoners as guards, he had escaped with the 
royal jewels, worth two milhons of money, hidden under 
his coat. AU these facts sound so romantic that I some- 
times feel as if I had been transferred into an exciting 
and thrilling novel d la Walter Scott, where fugitive 
royalties, faithful followers, fair ladies in distress, hidden 
treasuries, and the bloody reahties of the revolution form 
a varied and moving spectacle against the sombre back- 
ground of the Silesian landscape, with the vast secretive 
forests and their lovely hunting-lodges in which more 
than one crownless prince is lying low for the time being. 

Krieblowitz, January 23, 1919. — In the midst of a 
rush of legal and financial business which we have to com- 
plete before departing for Holland, we were forced to drive 
over to Breslau last Monday. On arriving there we found 
an invitation awaiting us from no less personages than 
Prince and Princess Georg of Saxony, just the people 
who have been so much in my mind lately. They wrote 
asking us to come to tea on the following day, which we 
did. Besides the Princess (who is a Bourbon) and her 



KRIEBLOWITZ, JANUARY 1919 315 

husband, the brother of the King of Saxony, the Crown 
Prince was there too and entirely won my heart by his 
simple friendly manner. 

Our hosts overwhelmed us with thanks for the Uttle 
we had been able to do for them in the way of food, and 
then told us about their experiences on the day of the 
revolution. They must have been awful. Later on 
Baron von Busche and Baron Metzsch gave us some 
more details. Baron Metzsch is gentleman-in-waiting to 
Princess Mathilda of Saxony, who, at his advice on the 
first hint of danger, left for her not very distant country 
seat of Pilnitz ; the other royalties, who did not take 
the situation very seriously, following her in the course 
of the evening. Next morning, however, they had a 
rude awakening to the brutal reahty of the hour, when 
a motor-car bearing a red flag drove up to the castle, and 
a man got out who on being shown in to Baron Metzsch 
gave him a paper on which a warning was written that 
the King, his brother, and other members of the royal 
family were to be shot next morning ; but if they con- 
sented to come away in the motor-car, they would be 
taken to a place of safety. Baron Metzsch was obhged 
to go and break the news to the royalties and force upon 
them the necessity of deciding at once what they were 
going to do. The King resolved to leave the castle at 
once, but protested against leaving it under the protection 
of the red flag, as there was no precedent of a Saxon 
king ever having done such a thing before. He spoke 
and acted with great dignity, and within a quarter of 
an hour they had left the place on foot. Princess Johann 
Georg, who is very dehcate and a Kttle lame, and used 
to nothing but the greatest comfort and luxury, had to 
cUmb up a steep hill and scramble over rough fields and 
hedges until she finally found shelter, having nothing 
with her but a small handbag containing a toothbrush and 
a pocket-handkerchief. Baron Metzsch himself spent 
the greater part of the night wheeling away the crown 
jewels and other valuables in a wheelbarrow to a hiding- 



3i6 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

place which is at present known only to himself and a 
trusted servant. I could write pages on all they told us 
of their different experiences, but must refrain for 
obvious reasons. On the day following the tea-party 
with the Saxon royalties we invited Count and Countess 
Henckel and their daughters. We were just sitting down 
to tea when who should walk in with my husband but 
the Crown Prince, followed in a few minutes by his aunt 
and uncle, Prince and Princess Johann Georg. We 
were all very much surprised, but after having presented 
the Henckel family, we were soon at our ease, chatting 
together in a most friendly manner, and enjo5dng the 
informahty of the whole proceeding. Although we did 
manage to laugh at times, I cannot say that we were gay, 
and I think on the whole our conversation would have 
melted the heart of the most inveterate of the " Soldaten 
Rate." 

True, the scene was not without novelty, and if it 
had not been so tragic for some of us, it might have 
formed an excellent study for a comedy. There we 
were, three royalties in exile and some eight members 
of the best-known Silesian famihes sitting round a tea- 
table to which every one contributed some little bit. 
One of us produced a packet of sugar from his pocket, 
another one proudly brought forth bread and butter, 
whilst we offered a bottle of fresh milk and some home- 
made cakes, each of us being as proud of our offering 
as if it had been some costly jewels. We all smiled 
when some one wondered if the " Soldaten Rat " would 
grudge us our deUcacies if they saw them. Then we 
started talking about our individual prospects and 
wondering how soon we should all be utterly ruined. 
The royalties were, I think, in the most doleful position, 
as they had absolutely nothing but what small allowances 
the " Soldaten Rat " doled out to them. 

Count Henckel prophesied that if the strikes in the 
mining districts continued much longer, or if the Poles 
entered Upper Silesia, in six weeks he would be a ruined 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1919 317 

man, whilst my husband finished by saying that if the 
Entente insisted on the requisition of all the agricultural 
implements, he too would be pretty close to ruin, and 
so on, and so on. 

We have almost completed our preparations for a 
long departure from here, and in a few days shall be on 
our way to Holland, whence I hope at no too distant 
date to get over to England. The thought of it makes 
me feel quite solemn, when I think of all that has happened 
since I last saw the dim shores fading in the distance. 
At this eleventh hour I cannot refrain from writing down 
some of my doubts as to the policy of the Entente towards 
Germany. I have hstened to the voices of every class 
of people here, and I sometimes fear that England has 
missed the right moment for restoring touch with the 
German people, and laying the foundation for a lasting 
peace in Europe. After the revolution, in the great 
wave of reaction against the war which set in here, the 
Entente could have done an5d;hing with the German 
people had they made the slightest overture towards a 
reconciliation. People were ready here to make repara- 
tion for the wrong done by their leaders. But now they 
say that Wilson has broken his word, and an undying 
hatred will be smouldering in the heart of every German. 
Over and over again I hear the same refrain, " We shall 
hate our conquerors with a hatred that will only cease 
when the day of our revenge comes again." 

Berlin, February 1919. — A friend came in to spend 
the evening with us yesterday, and had come straight 
from Amerongen, where he had spent two hours with the 
Emperor. 

First he was taken up to see the Empress, who was 
suffering from a bad cold. She sat there working, and 
was ready to talk quietly about ordinary subjects. He 
said he could notice a sort of home-sickness for her children 
and grandchildren, and a craving for home life more than 
anjrthing else. Neither she nor the Emperor, he was told. 



3i8 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

would even mention the Crown Prince, but always change 
the subject at once when his name crops up. 

After having remained talking with the Empress for 
about fifteen minutes he was taken down to the gallery 
in which the Emperor takes his exercise daily, and there 
he walked with him for two hours. He told us the first 
sight of him was a great shock. The Emperor has grown 
a long white beard ; he brushes his now quite white hair 
straight back, and his complexion is sallow and unhealthy ; 
but he bore himself with great dignity and spoke quickly 
and with reserve. 

He said that he had felt from the beginning of his 
reign that the mihtary powers were too strong for him. 
He had tried from the moment he came to the throne to 
assert his own authority, but he was too young and perhaps 
too impulsive. Later on he found that he was powerless 
in their hands, though he was always trying to break 
loose and work out his own ideas for his country. 

He said that he had enough English blood in his veins 
to know that the only thing was to go in with England, 
but he was always talked over by his military authorities 
and diplomats. Military authorities and diplomats of 
all countries are responsible for the war, not crowned 
heads. He will not own or reaUze that Germany did 
wrong in her invasion of Belgium. He says he has proofs 
that if Germany had not done it England meant to ; 
and that England had made a secret treaty with the 
Belgian King at the time Lord Haldane was in office, to 
the effect that they would be permitted to attack Germany 
through Belgium if necessary. 

He would not blame any of his Generals by name. 
He says he knows what marvels they have done for him 
throughout the war in defending Germany against the 
whole world. It is only where they began mixing them- 
selves up with the poUtical side that they made the 
blunders. The only man he blames personally by name 
is Prince Max of Baden, who, he says, deceived him from 
the moment he became Reichskanzler, by telling him 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1919 319 

all was going well, and all the time allowing the scheme for 
his abdication to be worked out behind his back. In 
fact his abdication was made public before he had actually 
signed it. 

He complained most bitterly that he was deceived 
and hed to from the outset of his reign, and especially 
throughout the war. His ministers never told him the 
truth, his military authorities never let him know how 
things really were, and the naval authorities quoted and 
stated absolutely fabricated figures. 

I did not give my opinion, but I cannot help thinking 
that if a man is an Emperor one of his chief aims should 
be to employ every person and every method by which 
he can arrive at the truth. 

The Kaiser says he was treated as a nonentity by his 
General Staff ; that they made a point of contradicting 
every order or command that he gave ; that he was 
turned out of the room whenever the telephone rang at 
Headquarters, so as not to hear the commands and the 
real facts. He was never allowed to speak more than a 
few minutes alone with any one who was hkely to give 
him the truth of what was going on. He was never told 
the true state of affairs at the front nor the strategy of 
his Generals. 

He was hustled backwards or forwards from the East- 
em to the Western Headquarters, so as to keep him 
" out of the way," when his Generals were especially 
occupied. 

My informant also told me that the Kaiser deeply 
regretted the death of Miss Cavell and that the order 
for the execution had been given by a drunken General 
who was personally vindictive towards England. The 
Emperor gave an order then that no woman was to be 
executed without his sanction. 

I suppose the late Kaiser must be one of the most 
wretched men in the world at present. One hears so 
many adverse criticisms of his conduct, and hardly ever 



320 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

a word of pity or compassion for his lot. Every one is 
full of wise sayings as to what he ought to have done at 
the critical moment, but he is universally condemned 
for running away from his country. Some people abuse 
him for not having abdicated a month before, making 
his grandson heir to the throne and Prince Frederick 
Karl of Hesse or Prince Max of Baden regent. Others 
condemn him for not placing himself at the head of his 
troops and taking his chance like the rest, as rumour 
said he had intended doing ; or again, he ought to have 
returned to Berlin and addressed the nation from the 
same balcony as he had done at the declaration of war. 
People do not reaUze that it would require a man of 
almost superhuman mental strength to decide what was 
the right thing to do at such a moment and carry it out, 
for when the worst came the mihtary leaders realized that 
there was not even a single battalion left whose loyalty 
could be depended on. Even had he wished to return 
to Potsdam or BerUn, he could not have got through, 
as disaffection was spreading like fire and all the bridges 
were in the hands of the retreating troops. 

Who knows what mental agony he may have gone 
through before making his final decision — perhaps the 
only one he ever did make during the war ; for from the 
moment the war broke out he had nothing more to say 
and knew only half the truth. During all his reign he 
had suffered from the hallucination of grandeur, and 
had never had the moral pluck to insist on hearing the 
truth, but at last every artificial screen was torn aside, 
and in one awful moment he was forced to face it in 
all its implacable nakedness, and come to a decision 
alone. 

Whatever the truth may be of the Emperor's personal 
responsibihty for the war (and I am told that there are 
documentary proofs which he hves in dread of coming 
to light), every one in Germany is opposed to the idea 
of his being brought to trial before a public tribunal ; 
but if the Entente insist on it, many people think that 



BERLIN, FEBRUARY 1919 321 

the most dignified attitude for him would be one of 
absolute silence, beyond the words, " Murder me if you 
will, but I shall not attempt to defend myself, as that 
would be putting the blame on other people, which I 
don't intend to do." 

There are whispers that the blame should be laid at 
the door of thirty-eight men of all nationahties, whose 
names are known to a few. These men are recorded as 
having worked systematically together for years, until 
they brought the war to a head. The rest of the actors 
in the preparations were but puppets in their hands. 
Some day their names will become known. 

Of all the other royalties, the Crown Princess is 
certainly the most popular in Germany at present, and 
not only there, but I hear also amongst the countries 
of the Entente. Many people say that if she plays the 
part cleverly she may yet live to see her boy the Emperor 
of Germany. She has nerve as well as tact, and it is 
said that she faced the situation at the time of danger 
and saved it more than once. 

I have heard that a week or two ago a band of Bol- 
shevist plunderers went to her palace in Potsdam and 
demanded admittance, saying they had come to search 
the place for hidden stores of food. She ordered them 
to be shown to her sitting-room, where she kept them 
waiting for a few minutes. After calmly entering and 
shaking hands with them, she asked if there was anything 
she could do for them, whereupon in a much humbler 
voice they said they had been sent to see if she was 
hoarding food. " Yes," she replied, " I have stored up 
some food ; I won't pretend to deny it. I am the mother 
of many small children, and I could not sit down helplessly 
and see them starve without storing something for a 
rainy day, any more than you would care to see yours 
starve if you could help it. I am ready to share what I 
have with your wives and children, but I am not going 
to give up all I possess." Upon which the Bolshevists 
turned and left the room without another word. I do 



322 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

not know if the story as I have told it is apocryphal, 
but certainly the Princess did later on give up some of 
her stores of food. 

In the Train on the Way to Holland, February 4, 
1919. — After a few agitated days in Berhn, where every 
one is convulsed with rage, despair, hunger, and cold, we 
finally found ourselves seated in a train bound for the 
west, after having passed through all the formalities of 
revolutionary officialdom, which is rather more round- 
about in its methods than it ever was under the monarchy. 
We had a cold but otherwise comfortable journey, and 
with every mile that carried us away from poor tormented 
Germany I breathed more freely, whilst a vague dreamlike 
feeling of gladness crept over me, that after the nightmare 
of the last four years I was on my way to my native land. 
I gradually became conscious of what it meant to me, 
and that there behind me lay the land in which I had 
passed so many dreary years, and at the same time also 
a feeling of pity and of gratitude for the kindness and 
affection of many friends whom I had met with in the 
country I was leaving, in which I had witnessed so much 
suffering heroically borne. There was a heightened 
f eehng of fate and destiny with me, as I once more turned 
to take a farewell look at it, and I felt as if I had passed 
from some huge tragedy, sombre and sad, as I cast off 
the shadows of the last years and gave myself up to the 
joy of picturing my return in, I hope, not too distant a 
future, to my country. 

On the evening before our departure. General Sir 
Richard Ewart and his A.D.C. Lieut. Breen came to dine 
with us, and it was very interesting to hear the General's 
views and opinions of life in BerUn, and his experiences 
in East Africa, where, as he told us, he had been spending 
two years with my brother-in-law. Admiral Sir Edward 
Charlton, fighting against the German General, Lettow- 
Vorbeck, for whom he expressed much admiration, and 
who, he said, was down in the annals of the war as having 



THE HAGUE, FEBRUARY 1919 323 

" fought clean " and made a gallant defence against 
great odds. It was a strange coincidence that whilst 
waiting for our train one of the first people we saw at the 
station should have been Lettow-Vorbeck on his way 
back to Germany from Africa. 

Sir Richard, who was busy repatriating prisoners of 
war, said that the men who had given him most trouble 
were those of the Casement Brigade, who were very 
unwilling to return to England, not knowing what fate 
might be awaiting them there, or whether they might 
not be tried for their part in the Casement episode. One 
of them, we heard to our great amusement, had been 
spending all his time last week shooting at the Bolshevists 
on the top of the Brandenburger Tor, which he seemed 
very much to prefer to returning home to the bosom of 
his family. 

We were fortunate in our exodus compared with the 
experiences which befell many of our friends. Perhaps 
one of the most thrilling was the flight of the Duke and 
Duchess of Croy, who had already arrived in Holland 
two months before we started, having hterally, at the 
outbreak of the revolution, to fly for their Uves, as their 
estate lay in the midst of an industrial district where the 
inhabitants were far from friendly ; and when murmured 
threats reached their ears, they stole out one evening 
with knapsacks on their backs and reached the frontier 
on foot, their country seat, fortunately, being only two 
hours from the Dutch frontier. Then they had to elude 
the Gennan and Dutch sentries, and were at one moment 
nearly given away by the Duchess's bulldog, which 
objected to being dragged under a barbed- wire fence. 
However, " all's well that ends well," and I hear that they 
and their children are now comfortably settled at The 
Hague, where we hope soon to join them. 

Of two other friends who had thriUing experiences, I 
think it simpler to quote from letters. The first is one 
that I received this morning from my friend Mrs. Albert, 
an American : 



324 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

" We crossed the frontier yesterday, and I am going to 
tell you about our last few days in Berlin. 

" On Sunday, January 5, the Spartacus had their 
first big procession, 50,000 strong. It took three hours 
to pass the Esplanade Hotel, where we were staying. 
We decided, if that was what we had up against us, that 
we had better get away as quickly as possible. 

" I had my passport, but my mother had to get her 
American passport vised, and we were obliged to go to 
the Po'hzei-Prasidium for the purpose. We started early 
the next day, driving past your palace to the Branden- 
burger Tor. The Tiergarten was full of Spartacus 
people, and masses of Government troops were coming up 
Unter den Linden to Wilhelmstrasse. Finally forcing 
our way through the dense crowds we managed to reach 
the Alexander Platz, only to find the Prasidium deserted 
and the great doors inside chained. The sentry told us 
there was no one there, and that no one could go in. Our 
hopes of getting the pass vanished, and we were on the 
point of turning away in despair, when a big motor 
flying red flags drove up. I turned at once and asked 
the man next to the driver, ' Have you any influence 
here ? I only want an American lady's passport to be 
vised." He looked at me, and said in perfect EngUsh, 
' Must it be to-day ? ' ' Yes, to-day.' ' Well, I can't 
guarantee it, but jump into the car and I will see what I 
can do.' At hghtning speed we were whisked round 
the comer to the main entrance. The crowd fell back 
on all sides amid the waving of red flags and cheers, the 
doors were flung open, and we found ourselves in the 
deserted court. 

" A sailor came up, and our unknown friend asked who 
was in. We heard the answer, ' Only Herr Eichom.' 
This was the very man they were after, the PoUzei- 
President Eichom, a Spartacus of the deepest dye. ' Take 
us straight to him,' said our friend, and we followed up 
to the top floor through long deserted corridors, till we 
were admitted into a room full of armed sailors. The 



THE HAGUE, FEBRUARY 1919 325 

men were violently excited, and everything was in greatest 
confusion. There were piles of rifles and machine-guns 
at every window. 

" It did not take long for us to realize that we were 
in the most dangerous spot in Berhn. After an anxious 
delay, we were ushered into a vast room with a great 
desk in the centre. The room was in perfect calm and 
order, with no occupant save a huge sailor standing by 
the desk. He was a magnificent - looking fellow with 
fair hair and clear blue eyes, dressed in black leather from 
head to foot and wearing a belt full of pistols. He first 
looked at us sharply and then opened the next door, and 
Herr Eichom came in. He was a thin, pale, insignificant- 
looking man, but he had a keen, intelligent look, was 
perfectly cool and composed, and asked very cordially 
what he could do for us. On hearing our request, he 
said, after a moment's reflection, ' My signature alone 
may not suffice ; we must also have a Government seal.' 
While we were waiting for the seal, the roar of the mob 
outside seemed to grow louder every moment, and I 
heard our friend whisper to Herr Eichom, ' I have a 
50-h.p. car outside ; you'd better come, as there is no 
time to lose.' But Herr Eichorn quietly answered, ' No, 
I stay.' They went into the next room, leaving us alone 
with the sailor, who told us he was the chief of the guard 
of thirty sailors, and that they had held the Prasidium 
for three nights ! The men were pretty well exhausted, 
but they would have to hold out still as there was more 
trouble to come. He had a smart mihtary cap on his 
head, and drawing himself up to his full height, said, 
' The Kaiser gave me this as a souvenir. He used to 
wear it, and now I wear it. I was his bodyguard on the 
HohenzoUern for years, and now I guard Herr Eichorn, 
and I will guard him with my hfe and soul to the last.' 
Thrilled and moved almost to tears, I felt hke joining 
the guard myself and fighting against an3rthing. 

" The messenger arrived with the seal, and Herr 
Eichom soon returned to sign and seal the passport. 



326 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

While he was doing so, a sailor rushed in shouting, 
' They are coming ! ' Our friend again tried to persuade 
Eichom to flee, but in vain. With a hurried ' Good-bye ' 
we left him with his faithful bodyguard. We had only 
got as far as the Kaiser's palace when we saw the masses 
of armed soldiers and civihans coming down the Linden. 
Their faces were stem and determined ; we knew they 
were making for the Alexander Platz. 

" Before leaving Berlin we received a telephone message 
from our unknown friend saying that there had been a 
terrible fight at the Prasidium that night ; Eichom had 
been rescued, but the sailor I had spoken to had lost his 
Ufe." 

Countess S relates her experiences as follows : — 

"The civil war which has been raging in BerUn and 
Leipzig drove us to seek quiet in Munich, where we took 
a villa in the outskirts of the town. We hoped that the 
Nemesis which is pursuing so many of our kind would 
lose sight of us in our obscure retreat, but we soon found 
that we had only escaped from the frying-pan into the 
fire, and a few weeks after our arrival the revolution 
broke out worse than ever. Again we could not sleep 
for the noise of guns and hand-grenades, and the prospect 
of a regular pitched battle should the Government troops 
attack the town. Worse than all, we had been warned 
that my husband's name was on the ' black Ust ' of 
aristocrats who were to be arrested and probably shot. 
I never knew a quiet moment after I heard this, and 
you may imagine what my feehngs were like when one 
day a band of revolutionary soldiers actually appeared, 
demanding my husband and sapng they were to search 
the house for hidden weapons. How fervently I thanked 
God that Egon was not at home, and I don't think I 
ever wished anything in my Ufe before so intensely as 
that he might not appear until I had managed to assuage 
their wild curiosity and get them out of the house. It 
seems that some one had denounced us as storing hidden 
weapons, and also that there was a secret passage under 



THE HAGUE, FEBRUARY 1919 327 

our house leading to one of the royal palaces. Well, I 
had a bad hour of it, until they had pried into every nook 
and corner, searching every crack in the wall, and hght- 
ing up every stone in the cellar before they were assured 
that I was not foohng them, and that the report was a 
cock-and-bull story. I managed, however, to get on the 
right side of them in the end, and they went away in a 
much less bloodthirsty mood than they came, and even 
assured me on bidding fareweU that if aU the ' g'spusi ' 
(aristocrats) were like the countess (myself), the people 
would not have so much to say against them. I smiled 
to myself — I am not an ItaUan for nothing. However, 
I did not wish to have my amiabihty put too often to 
the test, and so again we packed our tents and fled to 
Berlin as soon as we could get away, and here we are 
once more homeless vagrants, staying with friends in 
the Griinewald and enjoying the pleasures of a country 
retreat." 



February 191 9. 

Now that the actual bloody part of the great 
European tragedy has reached its conclusion and the 
day of settlement has come, I shall discontinue keeping 
note of the events as they appeared to me during the 
last four and a half years and more of my sojourn in 
Germany. It was at best a sad work, this jotting down 
of disasters great and small, for there was hardly ever 
a ray of light to vary the long gloomy chapter of history, 
unless it was a sideUght cast now and then on some 
individual deed of self-sacrifice and heroism, otherwise 
passed over unnoticed in the greater events of the war. 

I wonder if I have learnt anything since I wrote the 
hurried fines in my diary in those days of flight in 1914 ? 
Certainly I have tried to be just in my judgment on all 
men, and if my love for my native country may have 
rendered me partial in some ways, and made it easier for 



328 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 

me to see things from its point of view, far be it from me 
to cast a stone at the misguided but battered people 
whose heroism and self-sacrifice have often verged on 
the superhuman, and always called forth my admiration. 

Not only has the great conflict swept away kingdoms 
and empires, undone a whole code of civiUzation, and 
destroyed innumerable forces of ethical and aesthetic value 
in every country, but it has also loosened or torn asunder 
all those finer ties which bound the members of different 
countries in friendship and kindly intercourse with one 
another. 

Instead of a courteous friendhness we were accustomed 
to meet from acquaintances and friends in former times, 
we English or Americans who happen to have aUen 
husbands are subject to mistrust and suspicion every- 
where. Instead of our position being alleviated by the 
end of actual hostihties, we shall be treated as pariahs 
and outsiders in every country. 

From the very outbreak of the war our position was 
difficult, and the more conscientiously we tried to act up 
to our feeling of duty to both countries, the more keenly 
did we feel the slights and insults we often had to bear. 
Destiny devolved upon us the task of trying to be im- 
partial (as far as this was possible) to both countries, and 
of endeavouring to keep up some shred of courteous 
feeling between them. 

It was not an easy moment for many of us, when, 
loving our country and our famihes with every fibre of 
our being, we followed our husbands abroad into their 
own land, urged by loyalty to them to try and be just in 
our opinions, at a moment when our relatives were fall- 
ing at their hands, and all the evil spirits of hatred and 
resentment were let loose on the world. 

True, our relations in England and America remained 
faithful, but very often their partisanship for us made 
them liable to petty persecutions themselves. Here, 
where we were subject to suspicion and mistrust at every 
step, and our simplest sayings were wilfully misconstrued, 



THE HAGUE, FEBRUARY 1919 329 

our husbands fought our battles loyally, and although 
they were patriotic in the best sense of the word, were 
regarded with doubt in both countries. Now, at this 
time of spurious peace, we are worse off than ever. We 
may not return to the home of our youth, even for the 
most fleeting visit to our parents who are djdng to see 
us, because our husbands, no matter what their way of 
thinking may be, happen to be aliens ; for the same 
reason our money and belongings are kept back from us. 
In Germany again we are looked upon doubtfully because 
our sympathies may be too international ; in neutral 
countries we may not visit or associate with society for 
fear of compromising our friends ; whilst in order not to 
compromise our husbands we may not be seen talking to 
English or American friends or relatives anywhere in 
pubUc. Thus, everywhere we feel banished and in exile, 
and long for a time when a more charitable feehng shall 
prevail in the world. These complaints are of course 
not to be limited to the English wives of Germans, but 
may be applied to all women married to aUens. There is 
indeed no place under the sun for us, and absolutely no 
laws to protect us and our property. One lesson which 
I hope and beUeve all women in the same position as 
myself will have learnt is, that it is our imperative duty 
to try and restore friendship and confidence as far as 
possible between the inimical nations, and that we ought 
all to unite in this common task. 



INDEX 



Adlon Hotel, 245, 282, 311 
Aeroplane raids in Germany, 152, 

155, 182, 232, 245 
Alba, Duke of, 114 
Albania, King of, 7 
Albert, Mrs., 323 
Alsace, 16, 169, 173 
American Army, 185, 228, 237, 

243. 254 
American Embassy in Berlin, 9, 

17. 33. 51. 64, 84, 107, 108 
American Notes, 71, 84, 137, 164, 

255. 257. 259 
Amerongen, 317 
Amphion, H.M.S., 11 
Ampthill, Lord, 167 
Antwerp, 34, 38 
Armenti^res, 226 
Armistice, 265, 272, 277 
Amim-Boitzenburg, Count, 10 
Arras, 166 

Asquith, Mr., 87, 133, 232 
Astoria Hotel, 18 
Austria, 13, 74, 122, 142, 153, 156, 

214, 255, 265, 271, 272 
Austria, Emperor and Empress of, 

174, 214, 222, 235, 249, 255, 265 

Baden-Powell, 56 
Balfour, Mr., in, 186, 262 
BaUestrem, Count, 15, 18, 73, 145 
Ballin, Herr, 87 
Bar along, s.s., in 
Barchfeldt, Baroness, 106 
Bavaria, King of, 283 
Bavarians, 60, 62, 158, 166, 190, 

230, 233, 242 
Belgians, 8 
Belgian atrocities, 16, 25, 28, 29, 

61, 78, 93. 117 
Belgium, King and Queen of, 259 
Beresford, Lord, 30, 123, 141 



Berlin, 102 
Berliner Zeitung, 108 
Bernhardi, General, 75 
BernstorfE, Count, 164, 170 
Beseler, General v., 308 
Bessarabia, 16 
Bethanien Krankenhaus, 17 
Bethmann-HoUweg, 36, 91, 96, 98, 

no, 112, 120, 125, 133, 140, 151, 

168, 169, 175, 201 
" Bezugschein," 156, 184, 267 
Biron, Princesse de, 106, 181, 192 
Bismarck, 112, 173 
Bismarck, Prince, 116 
Bissing, Baroness v., 270 
Bissing, General v., 44, 86, 166, 

270 
Blankenburg Camp, 52 
Blindenbeim, 309 
Bliicher, Count (of Mecklenburg), 

171 
Bliicher, Count Gustav, 57, 83 
Bliicher, Marshal, 145 
Bliicher Palais, 166, 208, 288 
Bliicher, late Prince, 27, 144 
Bliicher, Prince, 7, 12, 15, 16, 40, 

45. 49. 72. 114. 122, 144, 149, 

168, 210, 244, 246, 257, 258, 278, 

283, 300, 310 
Bliicher, the, 46 
Bolshevists, 2qo, 241, 256, 263, 

272, 288, 312 
Boy-Ed, 224 
Braganza, Prince Miguel of, and 

Princess, 84, 106, 107, no, 148, 

163, 167 
Brandenburger Tor, 193, 256, 

276, 282, 284, 286, 292, 295, 

323. 324 
Breen, Lieutenant, 322 
Breslau, 75, 144, 180, 267, 300, 313 
Brest-Litovsk, 185, 190 



331 



332 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 



Brockdorff, Countes?, 29, 220 

Brussels, 20 

Bulgaria, 79, 82, 195, 248 

Bulgaria, King of. See Ferdinand 

Biilow, General v., 8 

Bulow, Prince, 36, 112, 120, 181, 

189 
Busche, Baron v., 315 
Butler, Dr. O'Brien. 63 
Buxton, Noel, 186 

Calais, 35, 41, 172, 196, 206 
Casement, Sir Roger, 42, 87, 130, 

138, 323 
Cavell, Miss, 84, 147, 167, 192, 257, 

319 
Cecil, Lord Robert, 167 
Charlton, Admiral and Lady, 2, 

47, 172, 188, 322 
Chateau-Thierry, 238 
Christmas, 100, 185, 304, 306 
Churchill, Mr. Winston, 63, 64 
Clairvoyance, 170, 215 
Clary, Countess, 311 
Clemenceau, 249 
Coal question, 161 
CoUoredo, Count and Countess, 

123, 141 
Cologne, 266 
Colonies, German, 24 
Connaught, H.R.H. the Duke of, 

170 
Constantine, King. See Greece, 

King of 
Coudenhove, Count, 240 
Courtney, Lord, 186 
Crefeld Camp, 44, 151, 167 
Cressy, H.M.S., 31, 33 
Crown Prince, 175, 187, 213, 242, 

247, 254, 301 
Crown Princess, 321 
Croy, Nancy, Duchess of, 52, 106, 

163, 192, 323 
Croy, Princess Marie of, 192 
Czar of Russia, 174, 239 
Czernin, Count, 222, 271 
Czemowitz, 143 

Daily Mail, the, 24 
Dardanelles, 79, 141 
Davis, Dr., 246 
Delbriick, 136 
Derby, the Earl of, 124 
Derenthall, Excellenz v., 285 



Derenthall, Frau v., 284 
Derneburg, 37, 135, 137, 268 
Dohna, Count and Countess, 116, 

121, 131 
Dresden, 72 
Dresden, the, 81 
Dresel, Mr., 119, 140, 165, 167 
Dumba, Mr. and Mrs. v., 89 
Dutch Legation, 166 

East Front, 16, 21, 23, 54 

Ebert, Chancellor, 287, 288, 299 

Eckersdorf, 74, 76 

Edward VII., King, 14 

Eichendorfi, General v., 242 

Eichorn, Herr, 324 

Eitel Fritz, Prince, 9 

Embassy, German, i, 2 

Emden, the, 65, 66, 132, 224 

Emperor, German. See Kaiser 

Empress, the, 20, 161, 168, 193, 
220, 293, 309, 317 

England, resentment against, 10, 
98 

Ernst Giinther, Prince and Prin- 
cess. See Schleswig-Holstein 

Erzberger, Herr, 178, 181, 271, 
277 

Erzerum, 123 

Esplanade Hotel, 7, 18, 35, 89, 96, 
102, 145, 148, 163, 311, 323 

Essen, Baron and Baroness, 95, 

3" 
Eulenburg, Prince, 259 
Ewart, General Sir Richard, 311, 

322 

F , Mr., 268 

Falkenhayn, General v., 128, 153 
Feilding, Colonel and Mrs. Row- 
land, I, 192, 216 
Ferdinand, King of Bulgaria, 244, 

248, 251 
Finlay, Mr., 43 
Flotow, Herr v., 106 
Foch, Marshal, 238, 277, 279 
Food Question, 77, 90, 122, 127, 
135, 143. 146. 152, 155, 156, 158, 
183, 231, 239 
Frankfort, 182, 245 
Frederick, the Empress, 74 
French, Field-Marshal Lord, 203 
Friederich, General, 202 
Friedrich Karl, Prince, 170 



INDEX 



333 



Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince, 152 
Fiirstenberg, Prince, 107 
Fiirstensteim, 181 

Galen, Count, 257 

George V., H.M. King, 18, 62 

George, Mr. Lloyd, 168, 186, 189, 

205, 226, 232, 262 
Gerard, Mr. and Mrs., 64, 137, 147, 

164, 165 
German Emperor. See Kaiser 
German Navy, 15 
Gevers, Baron and Baroness, 127, 

194, 206, 285 
Givenchy, 216 
Glasersdorf, 73 
Gleichen, Count, 123 
Goeben, the, 18 
Goering, Richard, 303 
Goltz, General v. der, 46 
Gotzen, Countess, 106, 204 
Greece, King and Queen of, 64, 

137, 147, 164, 165 
Grew, Mr. and Mrs., 116, 165 
Grey, Sir Edward (now Viscount), 

I, 81, 87, III, 125, 168, 186, 262 
Groning, General v., 169 

Hahn, Herr, 186, 190 
Haig, Field-Marshal Earl, 208 
Haldane, Viscount, 167, 318 
Hamilton, General Sir Ian, 141 
Hampshire, H.M.S., 140 
Hanisch, General, 269 
Harden, Maximihen, 173, 264 
Hatzfeldt, Prince, 232, 245 
Hay, Captain Ivan, 123 
Hedwig IQrche, 11 
Helfferich, Herr, 82, 175, 201 
Heligoland, 22 
Henckel, Count and Countess, 9, 

25, 48, 69, 70, 112, 140, 195, 212, 

311, 316 
Henckel, Count Krafit, 286, 288 
Henckel (-Donnersmarck), Prince, 

286, 288 
Henderson, Mr., 262 
Henry of Prussia, Prince, 46, 242, 

278 
Herrenhaus, the, 106, iii, 116, 

178, 189, 213, 244, 257 
Herthng, Count, 187, 189, 200, 

240, 249, 251 
Hesse, Landgraf of, 73 



Hesse, Prince Christian of, 78, 

131 
Hesse, Prince Frederick Karl of, 

320 
Hesse, Prince Max of, 62, 106 
Hesse, Princess Margaret of, 62, 

73 
Heydt, Baron v. der, 232 
Hindenburg, General, 22, 23, 32, 

no, 153, 162, 173, 175, 187, 238, 

245. 247, 250, 254, 259, 260, 

263, 264, 271, 293 
Hintze, Herr v., 240 
Hiss, Dr., 15 
Hochberg, Count Conrad, 15, 16, 

17. 257 
Hohenlohe, Prince and Princess, 

12, 22, 25, 31, 33, 107, 112, 195, 

271 
Hohenlohe - Langenburg, Prince 

and Princess, 18 
Holzminden Camp, 244 
Hooge, 72 
Hospital ships, 171 
House, Colonel, no 
Hoyos, Count, 66, 272 

Isenburg, Prince and Princess, 

106, 192, 197, 217 
Isenburg, Prince Joseph v., 218 
Isenburg, Prince Karl, 218 
Italy, 41, 143 

Jackson, Mr. and Mrs., 107, 119, 

165 
Jagow, Baron v., 12, 34, 81, 82, 

III, 127, 154, 159, 195, 213, 217, 

240, 245 
Joffe, Russian emissary, 246, 274 
Johansen, Dr., 51 
Johnson, Dr., 63 
Jutland, battle of, 139, 142 

K , Graf, 296 

Kaiser, the, 8, 13, 19, 30, 35, 46, 
54, 85, 97, no. III, 120, 123, 
128, 129, 139, 154, 160, 168, 
176, 181, 190, 193, 201, 220, 
237, 240, 246, 250, 254, 258, 
260, 263, 273, 275, 278, 279, 
289, 300, 317 

Karlsruhe, 155 

Kessel, General v., 149J 193 

Kessler. General, 118 



334 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 



Kiel, 46, 57, 69, 278, 301 

Kissingen, 65, 68 

Kitchener, Lord, 32, 73, 125, 137, 

140 
Kluck. General v., 33 
Kommandantur, 146 
Krieblowitz, 144, 151, 161, 178, 

223, 235, 267, 275, 278, 307, 309 
" Kriegs-Gewinner," 197 
Kriegsministerium, 209, 262 
Kiihlmann, Baron, 3, 13, 16, 181, 

185, 187, 195, 214, 231, 233, 

237, 241, 247, 300 

Lancken, Baron, 86 
Langer, Karl, 280, 288 
Langhorne, Major, 9 
Lansdowne, Marquis of, 186, 263 
Larisch, Count and Countess, 7, 8, 

9, 25, 48, 112, 195, 204, 233, 

255, 266, 271, 290, 291, 295, 311 
Law, Mr. Bonar, 126 
Lay, Mr. and Mrs., 107, 116, 143 
Leinsfer, the, 255 
Leishman, Mr., 52 
Lettow-Vorbeck, v., 322 
Lichnowsky, Prince, 3, 201, 213 
Lichterfelde, 57, 163 
Liebknecht, 135, 256, 263, 264, 

272, 287, 289, 294, 299, 305, 312 
Li6ge, 8, 16, 21 
Lille, 44 

Lippe, Prince, 107, 132 
Lobkowitz, Prince and Princess, 

65, 66 
Lodz, 41 
Loos, 80 

Lorebum, Lord, 186 
Lowenstein, Prince and Princess, 

48, 49, 61, 69, 98, 106, 112, 132, 

195. 196. 311 
Lowenstein, Prince Johannes, 164 
LudendorfE, General, no, 175, 

185, 187, 211, 238, 242, 243, 

247, 250, 254, 258, 262, 264, 

270, 271 
Lusitania, the, 50, 54, 65, 84, 89, 

257 
Luxemburg, Rosa, 290, 305, 31a 
Lynar, Prince, 98, 107 
Lynar, Princess Jane, 15, 16 

Magnis, Count and Countess, 74, 
116, 189, 245, 257 



Magnis, Count Franz, 76 
Mainzer, Dr. and Fr., 282, 285, 

286, 287, 289, 29a 
MaUnoff, 248 
Malta, Knights of, 15, 45 
Marne, battle of, 36, 106, 238, 242 
Mary, H.M. Queen, 63 
Matuschka, Countess, 218 
Maubeuge, 22, 36 
Max of Baden, Prince, 202, 249, 

258, 261, 287, 318, 320 
Mecklenburg, Duke of, no 
Messines, 173 
Metternich, Count, 88 
Metternich, Princess, 107, 116, 

182, 245 
Metzsch-Reichenbach, Baron, 315 
MichaeUs, 176, 181 
Michell, Sir Lewis, 113 
Mirage, 69 

Mirbach, Count, 171, 236, 242 
Mitau, 72 
Moltke, Count and Countess, 115, 

119. 195. 3" 
Moltke, General v., 35 
Mons, 22, 90 
Morgan, Mr., 116 
Move, the, 121, 131 
Miigge, Captain v., 65, 66 
Miiller, Captain, 132, 224 
Muchtar Pasha, 106, 206 
Munich, 229, 247, 248 
Miinster, Prince, 7, 12, 13, 29, 34, 

37, 54, 86, 89, 106, 116, 129, 

163, 189, 202, 258, 260, 262, 

263, 268 
Miinster, Princess, 37, 63, 65, 105, 

135, 163, 191, 202, 212, 268 
Miinster, Count Frederick, 40, 163 
Miinster, Count Paul, 57, 163, 259 

Nachlass Bureau, 178 

Namur, 16 

Naples, Queen of, 249 

Neuve Chapelle, 54 

Nicholson, Captain, 33 

Nicholson, Sir Arthur, 81 

Nicolai, Professor, 265 

Nikita, King, 205 

Norfolk, Duke of, 138 

NorthcUffe, Lord, 11, 81, 186, 201 

Ohnesorg, Dr., 80, 140 
Omens, 69, 137 



INDEX 



335 



Oppersdor£E, Count and Countess, 

12, 25, 204, 246 
Oppersdorff, Countess Lori, 25, 34 
Osborne, Mr., 165 
Ostend, 41, 228, 259 

Papen, Herr v., 89 

Paris, 23, 28, 29, 31, 208, 210 

Parma, Dukes of, 214, 248 

Pauley, Lieutenant, 71 

Payer, Exc. v., 190 

Platen, Countess, 115 

Platen, Countess Marie, 37 

Pless, Prince, 13, 123, 181, 245, 

257 
Pless, Princess, 15, 29, 31, 63, 

105, 106, 129, 181, 191 
Poland, 22 
Polo, Ex. and Mme., 194, 206, 

220, 311 
Pope, the, 20, 29, 62, 171, 179 
Pourtal^s, Countess, 164 
Prisoners of war, British, 29, 30, 

40. 52. 57. 63, 119. 142, 143, 

165, 186, 191, 192, 202, 203, 

268, 311 
Pritzelwitz, General v., 21 

Radolin, Count and Countess, 166, 

270 
Radolin, Prince and Princess, 74 
Rath, Baron and Baroness v., 106, 

141. 148 
Rathaus,i7 
Ratibor, Prince and Princess, 12, 

65,66 
Ranch, Captain, 203 
Red Cross Commission, 307 
Reichskanzler, 91, 96, 98, 169, 

175, 181, 189 
Reichstag, in, 154, 169, 255 
Reischach, Baron, 12, 23 
Reprisals, 63 
Reuss, Princess, 210 
Revolution in BerUn, 272, 276, 

281, 284, 293, 299, 303, 312 
Richthofen, v., 220 
Riga, 181 

Rizoffs, 195, 204, 236, 240, 311 
Roeder, Baron and Baroness, 18, 

23, 34, 105, 276, 282, 285 
Rogers, Mrs., 78 
Rothschild, Baron G., 25, 28 
Roumania, 156, 215 



Rupprecht, Crown Prince, 62, 77, . 

132, 242, 247, 254 
Russells, 168 
Russian Embassy in Berlin, 220, 

256, 263, 272, 274, 277 
Russians, 71, 72, 84 

-, Countess, 326 



St. Quentin, 22, 36 
Salisbury, Lord, 36 
Salm, Prince Alfred, 28, 88, 98, 

106, 116 
Salm-Salm, Prince and Princess 

Emanuel, 113, 121, 153 
Sanden, Herr van de, 204 
Sauberzweig, Major, 86 
Saurma, Countess, 181 
SchafEgotsch, Count, 167, 212 
Schall, Count and Countess, 

314 
Scheidemann, i6q, 271, 272 
Schenk, Baron and Baroness, 73 
Schleswig - Holstein, Duke and 

Duchess of, 17, 123, 195, 204, 

258 
Schubin, Ossip, 118 
Schwabach, Frau v., 270 
Scott, Sir Percy, 30 
Seherr-Thoss, Count and Countess, 

18, 106 
Serbians, 118 
Sierstorpff, Count and Countess, 

12, 15, 17 
SociaUsts, 93, 135, 154, 159, 175, 

251, 275, 299, 302 
Soden, Count, 282 
Solf, Dr. and Fr., 24, 81, 88, in, 

128, 168, 181, 200, 249, 273, 

292, 301 
Spain, King of, 62, 86, 114 
Sparkasse, 82 
Spartacus, 312, 323, 324 
Spy-fever, 10, 12, 13, 55 
Stapleton - Bretherton, Major 

Edmund, 216 
Stapleton-Bretherton, Major Fred- 
erick, 188, 216 
Stapleton - Bretherton, Monica, 

192 
Stapleton - Bretherton, Major 

Vincent, 2, 216 
Stapleton - Bretherton, Captain 

Wilfred, 48, 50, 275 
Starhemberg, Princess, 74 



336 AN ENGLISH WIFE IN BERLIN 



Sternburg, Baroness, 17, 106, 116, 

188, 195, 204, 240, 270 
Stolberg-Wernigerode, Prince, 18 
Strachwitz, Counts Ludwig Karl 

and Norbert, 223, 230, 292, 308 
Stumm, Baron and Baroness, 115, 

219 
Submarine warfare, 30, 66, 71, 83, 

88, 114, 118, 164, 167, 185, 201, 

255 
Sutherland, Duchess of, 123 
Sweden, Crown Princess of, 63 
Sybillenort, 307 

Talbot, Lord Edmund, 44 

Talleyrand, Count Eli, 25, 28, 34 

Tanks, 243 

Tannenberg, 37 

Tattenbach, Countess, 48, H2, 

115, 140, 311 
Taxis, Prince and Princess, 107, 

195, 202, 245, 285, 287, 288 
Tempelhofer Hospital, 154 
Tempest, Miss Cecil, 192 
Theotokys, 174 
Throckmorton, Lieutenant, 47 
Times, the, 29, 30, 31, 32, 52, 60, 

114, 181, 265 
Tirpitz, Admiral v., iii, 120, 129, 

189, 371, 278, 300 
Tisza, Count, 174, 270 
Trafford, Captain, 44, 150, 167, 198 



Trotsky, 190 

Tyrrell, Sir W., 2, 186 

Vaterlandspartei, 178, 182, 214 
Venizelos, 171 

Verdun, 118, 121, 126, 158, 211 
Vorwdrts, 285 

Warsaw, 71, 72, 83, 88, 90 
Wedel, Count George, 204, 276, 

286 
Welsczek, Count, 44 
Westphalen, Count, 269, 290 
Wied, Prince Victor, 7, 9, 18 
Wilhelm shaven, 139, 141 
Wilson, President, 28, 168, 232, 

251, 255, 257, 259, 264, 273, 

317 
Winterfeldt, General v,, 277 
Wittenberg, Herr, 201 
Wolf, the, 209 
Wolff Bureau, 173 

Yate, Major, 34 
Ypres, 173 

Zeebrugge, 228 

Zeppehn, Count, 121 

Zeppelin raids, 23, 25, 30, 33, 42, 

79, 91. 257 
Zimmermann, Herr v., 128, 175 
Zukunft, Die, 173 



THE END 



Printed in Great Britain by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinbitrgh. 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper ( 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium OX' 
Treatment Date: ^,,y O] 

PreservationTechnoli 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESE 

111 Thomson Park Drive 



l€ 



V 






